Digimon: Another Time, Another World
by Cronosonic
Summary: On yet another Earth, Keith Windslow is a teen programmer. After a freak accident sends him into the Digital World, he meets a Renamon named Vix, and they become fast friends. In a new, different Digital World and Earth, a new adventure begins!
1. Chapter 1: A New Day

_**Digimon: Another Time, Another World**_

Before we begin our tale, I advise that you will only be needing the bare basics of what you know about Digimon. Everything else, such as people, locations, events, such knowledge _may_ be handy, but ultimately irrelevant.

Are we clear on that? Good.

Imagine a near-duplicate of our world as we know it today. The date is roughly sometime in December, 2009. Digimon, as humankind are aware, only exist in fiction – the anime, the games, the comics, the original virtual pet, fan-fiction, and so on and so forth. As you can imagine, that will change rather quickly.

Oh, are you pondering my identity? I assure you, it's irrelevant, for now. There's a tale to tell, and I will not keep you from it any further.

Enjoy.

_Chapter 1: A New Day_

Tap, tap, tap.

A teenage boy, sixteen years of age, continued to type at a rapid pace on his desktop PC. Lines of C++ code covered the LCD screen.

Tap, tap, tap.

His surroundings are the apartment he lives in, fairly spacious, enough for adequate human living standards. And enough for him. But not terribly organised, all the same. Some parts of the apartment are quite messy. Otherwise, not unlike a regular teenager's apartment in terms of organisation and contents. The apartment itself was situated on the fifth floor of the building, giving a good view away from the Sydney suburbia, and towards the local forests. It was 3:45 PM.

Tap, tap, tap.

The teenager himself had brown hair that wasn't in any particular style, but well-brushed all the same, no widow's peak. He also sported brown eyes to match, and a medium-sized nose. He had a thin build, but far from underwieght. His outfit consisted of a blue tee-shirt with a red "dragon" logo design on the front, and a pair of shorts in a 'military camouflage' design. He also wore a watch, but no footwear, considering the generally hot weather. All things considered, he was a fairly good-looking teenager.

Tap, tap, tap.

His name was Keith Windslow.

He stopped typing. A small smile appeared on his face, as he called up an IM window on the screen.

**MajorWind:** Okay, I'm ready. You got things set up on your end?

**NeoMaelstrom**: of course duh lol

**MajorWind**: Alright, I'm gonna compile and run the program.

With a click, the code began to compile into machine language, ready to be used and executed. Keith picked up the cup of coffee next to his keyboard, and took a sip. Programming was one of his major hobbies. He was serious about it, despite his age. He wasn't entirely sure _what _he wanted to program, but he loved just doing it, and experimenting with code. Considering the end of school for the year and 5 weeks of summer holidays were coming up, he would have all the time in the world to do what he loved. Well, unless he was working on his part-time job.

The program finished compiling. Right now, he was working with a friend, Jase Merson, on an code experiment involving the sending and receiving of data packets. Keith's program was the sender, the receiver was on Jase's end. The program started, and began sending packets as expected.

Then the screen freaked out. A combination of static, electricity and some strange warping stuff occurred on-screen, but only for several seconds, before going back to normal and the program claiming that the packets had been sent and properly received. This left Keith, who had fallen out of his chair in shock, utterly bewildered. He got back up onto the chair, typing.

**MajorWind**: HOLY CRAP, did you see that?!

**NeoMaelstrom**: see what

**MajorWind**: When I executed the program, it just went... Haywire! I'm not sure if I can even describe it! It says you got the packets, though.

**NeoMaelstorm**: uh... no? I didn't.

**MajorWind**: … Seriously?

**NeoMaelstorm**: maybe they got lost in the process?

**MajorWind**: … I'm gonna try again...

Keith quickly re-checked the code he had just written. No syntax, logic or run-time errors he could see. He had checked his code multiple times previously – nothing should have gone wrong. He clicked the "compile" icon again, with hesitation. As he waited for the program to compile, he placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose. Perhaps it was a one-time occurrence? He hoped so.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

The screen began to freak again, but the effects were more... Stable. Or, at least, so he figured, it looked less chaotic. But the new thing was, in the middle of the screen, was a circular opening, slowly expanding out, showing something new – a window to what appeared to be another location, a forest, and a figure looking back at him that seemed as shocked as he was.

Despite his better judgement, he touched it.

* * *

Keith felt dirt.

Upon regaining consciousness, he realised that he was lying face-first in dirt. Deciding that staying on the ground with dirt was not a good idea, and noting that he was neither tired nor injured, he sat up, wiping the dirt off his face and clothes, before taking a good look around. Forest. The same forest he just saw. Talk about the worst possible time not to be wearing shoes. Then it occurred to him, wasn't there a-

"Oh, you're okay."

He blinked, before turning around. The same figure was right behind him, squatting so she (or so he thought) was at eye-level with him. He recognised her almost immediately. A white and yellow vixen with blue eyes, and wore purple, fingerless 'gloves' that extended up to the elbows was hard to not recognise when you surf the web often enough – or happen to be a Digimon fan, for that matter. However, what was different, was that she wore a red scarf. "What the heck?! Renamon?!"

Renamon blinked at him, surprised by the address. "So you recognise my species."

Keith was frozen in sheer disbelief. It was only natural that he was assuming various weird theories, ranging from hallucinations to a dream. Renamon's response was to poke him in the forehead. "Huh. I would think I would be more surprised at a human appearing in the digital world."

"Surprised? You mean you didn't expect me?" Recognising that she was indeed real, Keith began to calm down, and rationalise the situation. Something must have happened with his program that created a portal. Or, at least, that's what he theorised. But, from the usual expectations, it would normally be assumed that he would've been called here by 'fate', and that the Digimon he met would have expected his arrival. Which left another conclusion – was his arrival a complete accident?

"Actually, yes. I was experimenting with that terminal you see over there." Renamon pointed to a nearby tree, and Keith's eyes followed. Attached to the tree, looked like a computer of some sort, complete with a mouse and keyboard, but it also seemed to have various other methods of input. "I was using a program, when the terminal began to act strangely. Then I saw your face, and you just came through, and hit the ground."

"How long was I out for?"

"A couple of minutes."

Keith nodded, as he got up, and walked over to the computer. It seemed to be turned off. He tried turning it back on. Nothing. He decided to look for a power source. Nope. He found a hatch, and looked inside. Then he cringed. The internals were virtually fried. The hard drive was, thankfully, intact, but everything else would require a serious replacement. "Oooooooooooooooh crap. It's fried. If I want any hope of getting home, we're gonna have to replace the internals. Unfortunately, I suspect that you Digimon have nothing in the way of-"

"Actually, we do. Why do you say that?"

Keith froze. Then he looked back at Renamon. "Wait, seriously, Renamon? I thought electronics in general didn't work in the digital world."

"Wherever you got your information on the digital world, I suspect it may be inaccurate." Renamon smirked. "As perhaps our assumptions about your world. Also, I have a name, you know. I'm Vix. And you are?"

_Vix, short for 'vixen', huh? It's a surprise that she has a unique name, but... Very nice, _Keith thought to himself, as he took a step forward, outstretching a hand for a shake. "I'm Keith. Keith Windslow. This is... Well, amazing!"

"I could say the same." Vix took his hand, and they exchanged a firm handshake. "Look, I'll give you a 'tour' of the area, and I'll try and explain as much as I can. I also know someone who can replace those parts. Might be costly, however."

"As expected." Keith groaned. "Right, then. We'll need to bring all this stuff with us. Got a bag of some sort?"

* * *

It took a short walk to get out of the forest. Keith found the forest relaxing and surprisingly realistic. But what came next, of course, was a shock. A city. No, not some simple settlement. An actual city. The more high-tech, populated settlements such as like the games were presumably set up by humans working with Digimon. Instead, this city was blatantly built by Digimon, though clearly through digital manipulation. Vix noted, "Just don't be surprised if Digimon start staring, okay? They've never seen a human for real. Until now, I thought you humans were fictional creatures, a myth."

"Oh, the irony..." Keith replied, in sheer awe of the buildings and inhabitants before him, as Vix escorted him through the streets, carrying a bag of computer parts over her shoulder. As expected, there were stares all round. Digimon of various kinds were shocked and amazed by the sight before them, much like Keith's awe at their society. This made him nervous. Vix suddenly started pulling him along faster. "Perhaps we need to disguise you next time."

She dragged him into a nearby shop, let go, and went over to the counter. The shop definitely was a specialist computer store – all sort of parts, from motherboards to graphics cards littered the shelves. The store itself didn't seem very large, though. "Hey, Shawn!"

"Hey, Vix, I wasn't expecting-" A Gabumon, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, came out from a door behind the counter, and froze upon seeing Keith, who waved nervously. "Holy... Am I seeing things, or that a human in my shop?"

Vix chuckled, leaning on the counter. "Oh, your eyesight is perfectly fine, Shawn. This is Keith. He came into the digital world via a freak accident. Kinda my fault, I guess. Remember the computer out I the forest? Well, that's the cause, and when it happened, a lot of the internal components fired. Can you get replacements?" She opened the bag, showing him the fried parts. Keith walked up to the counter, deciding to make himself friendly. "Uh... Hi."

Shawn rubbed his chin. "Yeah, but the originals are old. I'll do the replacement job myself, see if the new parts don't fry like these ones. It's on the house. Seeing a real-life human is payment enough. Come back in a couple of hours, I'll probably have it done by then, if I don't call you first. Keith, it's an honour to meet you, kid."

Keith grinned, as he shook hands with Shawn. "No, the honour is all mine. For some reason, this is just plain weird."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. Digimon, until now, believed that humans were fiction, and have a society like human-kind, and some of the rules that I assumed don't apply?"

Keith was surprised to find that Vix's apartment was... Ordinary. Not unlike his, actually. Except more feminine, but that was besides the point. Vix sat on her purple couch, nodding, as she turned on the TV. "Yes. I'd like to travel to your world and see the differences from the fiction!"

"Imagine this world, except non-digital and populated by humans instead of Digimon." Keith replied, as he began to look around the place. He was looking through a nearby drawer. He was surprised to discover that Digimon actually owned clothes. "Anyway... I suppose I should tell you a bit about myself. I live in Sydney, Australia, if you've heard of it."

"Yeah, I have, actually. City with that weird bridge, right?" Vix was flipping through channels. "They're talking about you on the news, by the way."

"Oh, that's lovely, I always wanted to be on the news because I'm currently the most out-of-place entity on the planet." Keith replied sarcastically, as he noted that it seems Vix owned underwear, but not a bra. Though, considering she and all of her digi-evolutions don't have breasts, it wasn't surprising. "I'm a programmer. Well, an amateur. Sort of. I'm really good for my age, really."

"That explains a lot." Vix noted, as she also took note of what was going on with the news. "I work as a waitress at a restaurant not to far away from here. It's a decent job. Though, it's blatantly obvious that my boss prefers 'mons with breasts. Perverted bastard."

"I thought your kind don't have genders."

"Well, not in the reproductive sense, no. Your way of reproducing weirds me out, anyway. Gender, for us Digimon, is just another way of distinguishing between each other." Vix replied, looking at him. "Doesn't stop some Digimon, though."

Keith, while still looking around the drawers, found a deck of cards on top of it. "Hey, what are these?" Vix noticed, and replied, "Oh, those? They're 'Effect Cards'. They're used a card game Digimon often play in their spare time."

_What show am I in, Digimon, or YuGiOh? _Keith thought to himself, as he examined the deck. Fire, ice, alchemy, healing, steel... Different properties with different effects. "I take it they're not supposed to be used on their own."

"Of course not. You're supposed to use these cards alongside them." Vix held up another deck of cards, which Keith noticed had a different set of cards, the bottom of the deck had a sword of some kind. "Item cards. They're the other half of the game. But item card decks are always structured in a specific way."

"Ah, kinda like a traditional deck of cards. The effect cards are the actual trading cards." Keith smiled, as he walked over to Vix, placing the deck down on the table in front of the couch. "Alright, then. Let's play."

Vix had decided to pull out some spare cards so Keith could form a deck of his own, and explained the rules to him. The item deck is placed in the middle between the two players, the effect decks to the sides of their players. For each player, there are three item slots. Each item is allowed one effect only unless allowed by a specific effect card. At the beginning of a turn, the players draw three item cards each (each card has an ATK and DEF rating, and possibly a description of other effects, and things such as materials), and place them in particular slots – offense (does damage using ATK), defense (reduces incoming damage using DEF), and support (can act as a secondary offense or defense, or do other things, such as restoring HP). This is called the "Item Phase". Then, if it is the first turn, the players draw six effect cards each. Every turn after that, the players each draw one effect card. Then, the players can set effects to their items in each slot, placing each effect card face-down. This is called the "Effect Phase". Then, comes the "Damage Phase", where the players turn over the effect cards, and damage against each player's Health Points (or HP for short, of course) are calculated for both players depending on the items and effects used. All cards used are then placed in the Discard pile, and next turn occurs. The objective of the game is to reduce the opponent's HP to 0 or less. Each player usually starts out with 30 HP, though the starting amount can be changed.

"So, since damage usually cannot be avoided each turn, the game is normally fast-paced. In Effect Cards, there is no such thing as a stalemate." Vix shuffled the Item Deck, placing it in its usual spot on the playing field. Keith had an Effect Deck already set up. The pair were sitting on the opposite sides of the table. "I get it. It's not your usual trading card game. Alrighty then, draw!"

Keith found himself with a steel sword (ATK = 5, DEF = 1), a steel shield (ATK = 1, DEF = 5), and holy water (seemingly worthless). A basic start. He placed each of them in offense, defense and support, respectively. Vix had placed a drill in offense (ATK = 3, DEF = 3), chain-mail armor in defense (ATK = 0, DEF = 6), and a knife in support (ATK = 2). Now, Keith just needed to draw the right effect cards. First draw. Fire, Poison, Healing, Titanium, Electricity, and Ice. A good hand. He had an idea of what he could do with this one. He placed Electricity on the sword (+2 ATK bonus), Titanium on the shield (+1 DEF bonus), and Fire on the Holy Water, which granted an offensive boost of +2 ATK, but he also knew there was another bonus.

The pair flipped their effect cards. Much to Keith's surprise, Vix had given a SuperSize effect to her drill, doubling its ATK, titanium to her armour as well, and a Multiply effect to her knife (quadrupling its ATK, as it was a small object – the smaller the object, the greater the bonus from Multiply). Regardless, he smiled. "Nicely done. But my sword bypasses your metal armour's DEF thanks to its electrical effect, halving its DEF. Plus... My fire-enhanced Holy Water does 2 damage to you each turn for the next 3 turns. You lose 6 HP, for a total of 24 HP left."

"Yeah, but my drill just demolished your shield, and left a gaping hole in your defense, allowing my multiplied knives to take off 8 of your HP. You've only got 22 HP left." Vix smirked, as she gathered up the cards on the field, and placed them in the discard pile. "I bet you won't last beyond the third turn. Draw again."

_Get real. That means she has to do at least 22 HP of damage in the next two turns, and I have a healing effect. If I can draw another Holy Water... _Keith planned, as he drew another three item cards. A steel spear (ATK = 4, DEF = 2) which he placed on offense, a wooden table (ATK = 2, DEF = 4) which he placed on defense, and, of all things, a beer bottle (ATK = 3, DEF = 1), which he placed on support. Vix also had a strange set, with a wooden baseball bat on offense (ATK = 3, DEF = 3), a stone statue on defense (ATK = 0, DEF = 5), and a large book on support (ATK = 3, DEF = 2). Keith was quick to inquire, "I imagine, besides normal weaponry, we'll also have to work with some of the most mundane crap imaginable?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Vix grinned, as she drew another effect card, as did Keith. He found himself with a "Razor" effect, that enhanced an item's attack by adding extra sharp edges – the extra damage depends on the material. He had four cards. He knew he'd have three cards next turn if he only had two, so he decided to only use two, adding a Poison effect to the spear (+2 ATK, plus an extra 2 damage per consecutive turn for three turns), and Ice to the table (+2 DEF). Vix had taken the same approach, he noticed.

When they turned the cards over, Vix wagged her finger at him, tauntingly. "Not bad, but you're still a newbie." She was right. A Fire effect on the bat (+3 ATK) rendered the Ice effect on the table worthless, and halved the table's DEF, resulting in 4 damage. She also used Steel on the statue (+1 DEF) that reduced all damage coming at her to a measly 4 (18 HP left, including the fire damage from the previous turn), and the book basically added another 3 damage, resulting in 7 damage total, leaving Keith's HP at 15 HP. "Okay, that's pretty good, but I doubt you'll be able to do 15 damage in a single turn." Keith remarked, as he drew another three item cards. The vixen Digimon in front of him simply continued to smile.

Keith grinned, as he placed down a Bow and Arrow in offense (ATK = 6, DEF = 0), steel-plated armour in offense (ATK = 0, DEF = 6), and Holy Water in support. Perfect. In the description, Holy Water enhanced the normally +4 healing effect to +8. He also had good offense and defense on his own. Vix, in the meantime, had a chain-based whip/flail (ATK = 5, DEF = 1) in offense, an axe (ATK = 5, DEF = 2) in defense, and a wooden cross (ATK = 2, DEF = 2) in support. She drew her effect card, noting with a smile, "By the way, you can place one effect card of your own on an opponent's item. This is one other way, besides certain effects, to have more than one effect on an item card. Just saying."

Keith shrugged, wondering why anyone would do that, and drew his next card. He drew a Darkness effect, which he decided to place on the armour (+2 DEF). He placed Razor on the Bow and Arrow (+2 ATK), and Healing on the Holy Water. Vix suddenly placed an effect card on the Holy Water as well, her expression not changing. Then, they flipped the effect cards over. Keith's eyes widened, however, when he noticed that the effect placed on the Holy Water was Poison. Vix grinned, as she explained, "That's why you can. Holy Water isn't typically a good weapon, but it's a fantastic healing item. So, I sabotaged your attempt to heal with a Poison effect, which does damage to you instead of healing, and also adds 2 to that damage – what would've been 8 HP added is now 10 damage."

Keith looked over the other effects. Vix had placed a Water effect on the whip (+2 ATK), and a Boomerang effect on the cross (double damage). He calculated the damage in his head. The water, regardless of the darkness effect, basically rusted steel as part of its effect, halving its defense. That meant that, on its own, the whip did 2 damage. Vix then placed a finger on the cross. "Then there's this little beauty. 4 damage. Do the math, kiddo."

10 + 2 + 4 = 16 damage. Minus-1 HP. Meanwhile, Keith had only done a mere 6 damage to Vix, plus the extra 4 damage, leaving 8 HP. Keith had lost the duel on the third turn, as Vix predicted. The teen looked at the cards, then at Vix, and back and forth in disbelief. Vix sat back, laughing, one leg crossed over the other. "It's your first ever match, Keith, you really shouldn't be so surprised. You had as much chance of winning as beating me in an actual fight, no offense."

"None taken." Keith sighed, leaning forward, and gathering up his effect deck. "When it comes to Digimon, a human typically would need to fuse with a Digimon to actually not get their asses kicked."

"I figured as much. Humans don't have any special 'powers' like Digimon do, but I think that's what makes them interesting... Wait, is your deck glowing?" Vix blinked, as she noticed something peculiar. Keith looked at his deck. It was glowing yellow. "That's odd. Does that happen usually?"

"I've never heard or seen that happen, ever."

"Well, that's helpful. I guess we can figure THAT one out, later!" Keith shoved the effect deck in his pocket. "Mind if I keep it?"

Vix chuckled, as she got off the couch, as the phone began to ring. "It's no problem, it's all spare cards I don't want anyway. Kinda useless without an item deck, though, just warning you."

Keith nodded, as he pondered. Vix had answered the phone, which was right by the door. "Oh, hi, Shawn. Wait, you're ready? Already? Thank you." She then hung up. "Keith, I have good news. It looks like Shawn got it done quicker than we expected."

"Oh, sweet! Let's go, already!"

Keith went over to the door, but Vix quickly went over to the table, and snatched up the item deck and her own effect deck, and also grabbed a belt from the drawer which had two "pockets" for both decks (which she placed said decks in), before walking back over to a waiting Keith.

* * *

The pair had hurried over to the forest, but the sight that greeted them was not pleasant by any means. Shawn was on the ground, knocked down by another visitor – a Devimon, who was distinguished by what appeared to be a white beard and a large moustache. Devimon had one foot on Shawn. "Oh, a mere rookie. So... Irksome." He noticed Keith and Vix immediately. "Ah. About time."

Keith took a step forward. "What the hell?! What are you doing here?!"

"Ah, my apologies. I am Kazikli. I came after hearing about your arrival in this world." Kazikli looked towards the terminal. "I waited until the terminal was repaired, you see. Such a fascinating device, don't you think? But more fascinating is the world on the other side."

"If you intend to go to the human world... Why?" Vix got into a fighting pose out of instinct, despite knowing that she was incapable of beating him. Kazikli's attention came back to them. "To destroy it. It disgusts me how much we Digimon revere humans, yet they are so pathetic. They are nowhere near as powerful as us, and you know this. Boy, I will have the pleasure of killing you first. And I will silence your companions. I will not allow them to spoil my plans. None of you will leave this place alive."

Vix growled, as she charged, jumping and sending out a cloud of razor-sharp shards. "Not on my watch! Diamond Storm!"

Though Kazikli deflected the attack easily, Shawn managed to slip out from under his foot, and fled behind a tree. Kazikli grabbed Vix by the throat, causing her deck belt to slip off. "You DARE challenge a champion? You have courage, girl, I must admit. You could make a good servant."

The belt hit the ground, and the item pocket accidentally opened, spilling out cards near Keith, who was frozen in shock, fear and indecision. One of the cards was near his foot, and it began to glow blue. He noticed, and picked it up with his left hand. It was a chain whip card. A shiver went down his spine, as he reached into his pocket, and drew an effect card with his right. Fire. A flame whip. Wait, why was he thinking about trading cards at a time like this?! He looked up at Vix, who was being choked, unable to free herself. He looked back at the two cards, glowing blue and yellow. "Here goes nothing!"

Much to his surprise, the whip card began to transform, expanding outwards in his hand, forming a handle, and then expanding out into metal chains, until it formed the 'mace' portion. It was an actual, physical weapon! He had an idea of what to do next, so he had the fire effect card touch the chain whip. The two practically merged, and the whip (not the handle, though) suddenly lit up momentarily with a powerful flame. Keith figured the flame would emerge every time he attacked, so, he charged towards Kazikli, and swung.

The mace slammed into the Devimon's head, lighting up, and taking him by surprise. He stumbled a few feet backwards, dropping Vix, who began to cough for a second or two as she began to breathe properly again. Kazikli quickly recovered, noticing the weapon and his attacker. "How did you...? Bah, no matter, even with a weapon, you are out of your league."

Shawn suddenly managed to strike with his Horn Attack, having dived out from behind that tree, warning, "Vix, Keith, get out of here! I called the cops, they'll be here soon! Don't worry about me!"

Kazikli sighed, recovering immediately and knocking Shawn away. Keith tried to swing his whip again, but he fumbled, missing completely. Vix covered her fists and feet with ghostly blue flames, leaped up into the air, and came down on Kazikli, using her Power Paw to strike with a series of kicks and slices, but she was knocked down. "Honestly, did any of you believe you could even make a good delay?"

He suddenly blasted Keith with his Wicked Laser, making him drop the whip, and sending the teen crashing into a tree with a loud thud. Keith was surprised to find himself still alive and not actually burnt, but it hurt like hell. Vix and Shawn were trying to attack Kazikli, but it was obvious it would take a lot more to take him down. Vix urged, before she got knocked down again, "Keith, it's you he wants, run!"

Keith was horrified. The only two Digimon he actually knew and thought of now as friends were going to be killed in front of his eyes, yet the pain nearly paralyzed him. No, he had to do something, anything! He had dropped the whip, and if he tried to retrieve it, Kazikli would probably attack him. He needed another way to attack. A few other cards lay at his feet. He picked up a Wooden Cross card, and drew some effect cards, finding a few good ones. Alchemy, Light, and Boomerang. Alchemy allowed him to use two effects on a single item, so he used all three effects on the cross. The cross formed in his hand, glowing. "I guess this is how Simon Belmont feels when he fights."

He managed to get to his feet, despite the pain aching in his body, and threw the cross. Kazikli did not expect this attack either, and was promptly struck in the chest, making him roar in pain. The cross bounced away. "A vaccine...? No, a similar effec-GAH!" The cross had come back, slammed into his back, and came back to Keith, who managed to catch it. The Devimon then noticed the cards. "Oh, I see what you're doing... Clever. But the time for games is over."

He suddenly charged at Keith, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him into the tree, forcing him to drop the cross. "Even with these weapons, you're still a weak human. You couldn't even use that whip properly."

Keith objected with his foot, kicking Kazikli in the stomach, surprising him, and leaving him open for a Diamond Storm plus Blue Blaster combo from Vix and Shawn, knocking him away into another tree. They covered him as he grabbed the cross and the whip, and then faced Kazikli again. "You say humans are weak, huh? Let me give you a little info on why humans managed to become the dominant species of planet Earth!"

Before Kazikli could properly recover, he was hit in the head with the mace. Keith decided not to do anything fancy with it, as he knew he couldn't use it well. "Though most people in today's modern society don't realise it, humans are very near the top of endurance compared to other creatures. Especially in hot climates. We have so many advantages, we're the Terminators of the animal kingdom."

Kazikli managed to stand firm, and was about to attack when he was double-attacked by Vix and Shawn again. Keith, as soon as they were out of the way, hit him with the cross. "We can chase prey for hours, and we could do it for DAYS back in the days when we were hunter/gatherers. We can hold grudges forever. Rip out our "claws"? We don't care, we'll pull out new ones and _throw_ them at you. Like what I'm doing now. We can warp reality so that everything is trying to kill you."

The devil Digimon was backed up against a tree, and another whip strike, combined with the Digi-attacks, knocked him down. Keith spun his whip, noting, "Where we don't have brute strength, we have endurance, smarts, wits, and the ability to use whatever the heck is available to us. If I was a better fighter, I wouldn't need fancy-shamncy powers to kick your ass. But that's where Vix and Shawn come in." He looked between the two, smiling. "Humans and Digimon can combine their strengths to become something greater than the sum of its parts. Well, that's what I've learned from watching too much Digimon anime, anyway."

Vix and Shawn smiled back at Keith. Vix asked, "How do you know stuff like that?" Keith was quick to reply, "TvTropes. Long story."

Kazikli was clearly unable to fight. Three other Digimon arrived on the scene, wearing what appeared to be police uniforms – a Leomon, an Angemon, and an Angewomon. Keith, Vix and Shawn noticed them, and as soon as they did, Keith collapsed from sheer exhaustion, now realising that the fight took a lot out of him. Leomon caught him as he fell, though. "It's alright. You're safe, now."

The Angewomon examined the scene momentarily, and looked at Kazikli. "Sergeant Furey, arrest the suspect." The Angemon proceeded to do so, and then the Angewomon introduced herself. "I am Inspector Riza, these are Sergeant Havoc," she motioned towards the Leomon, "and Sergeant Furey. We came as quickly as we could. Thank goodness you survived, but it's amazing that you actually managed to defeat him."

Furey noticed the whip and cross as he was handcuffing Kazikli, who didn't speak. "Did... You actually defeat a Champion Digimon? All three of you? I can see you have, but it's just... Unbelievable!"

Keith burst into relieved laughed, as Havoc set him down into a sitting position next to a tree. "I did? Wow. No, I didn't do it al-"

Then Vix slapped him. "Idiot! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Shawn sighed, as he looked at his shirt, which was rather torn. "I honestly though I was gonna die." He looked up at Keith, grinning. "I owe you one, kid – no, really. We couldn't have pulled that off without you."

Havoc checked Keith's injuries, and found nothing that couldn't be fixed with some rest. "Are you going back to your world? As soon as you do, get some rest. You deserve it."

As Furey lead Kazikli away, the Devimon pouted. "Enjoy your victory while it lasts. I will not be the first to try and crush your world."

"Oh, go to hell, like the devil you are." Keith rolled his eyes.

* * *

Keith blinked, as he found some footing. They had managed to establish a portal back to Earth, a crude but workable program that replicated what created the portal, on both sides, without having another person on the other side. But was he back in his room? A mere look around confirmed this, though it was sunset already. Then came a sigh of relief. "I'm home. Incredible."

"Huh, so this is your room."

Keith turned around, to find Vix sitting on his desk. The Renamon smiled, turning her head to look around. "I like it."

Keith chuckled, as he motioned for Vix to move away, before sitting down at the desk, and opening up MSN messenger. Oh, good, Jase was still on. "Before I take you on a tour, I've got something to do..."

**NeoMaelstrom**: oi, keith whats going on dude

**NeoMaelstrom**: keith?

**MajorWind**: I'm back.

**NeoMaelstrom**: dude where the hell have you been

**MajorWind**: I'm about to get to that! But I bet you'll never believe me.

**NeoMaelstrom**: try me.

**MajorWind**: Okay, I will.

_**MajorWind has set up a video conversation**_

**MajorWind**: Jase, meet Vix.

_To Be Continued_

* * *

**Author's Notes: **And this is what you get when you have too many ideas swimming in your head.

For a person who hasn't really touched Digimon for a while, I guess this could rekindle the Digimon fan in me – maybe I should finish watching Tamers and actually watch Savers, it's kinda embarrassing when the last series of the anime I watched was Frontier, which I thought was good, but a good portion of the fanbase just hates. Thankfully, I'm not touching any particular season, or game, manga, or whatever. This is basically my idea of what Toei could potentially do if they actually did a sixth season of Digimon. Another clean slate, so to speak. I dunno if I can match the quality of the actual series, but I'll try and do the best I can. Of course, provided that I can juggle this with my other fics. Gah.

And, about the card game. Unless you guys actually enjoyed reading it (it's hard to pull the sort of "what do you mean its not awesome" stuff you see in YuGiOh with just text, how they make a card game, well, not boring), but at least I tried to keep the duel short, unlike certain card game shows that take ages with their duels. I just had the idea for the game, you see, and I threw together some rules and tried to keep it simple enough to constrain it to a paragraph, and I just came up with cards and stats on the spot. And part of the idea was actually making the cards practical outside of the game itself, so you don't see such silliness as determining the fate of the world over a children's card game.

Also, here's a fun activity for those who haven't spotted these – spot the three Fullmetal Alchemist references! They're pretty easy. There's also a reference to Dracula in there, but it's more an obscure one more to do with the historical person, rather than the fictional character.


	2. Chapter 2: School's In!

**Author's Notes**: I corrected several mistakes and improved some things in the last chapter, thanks to a guy I know who proofread it. This is why professional writers have editors.

* * *

Chapter 2: School's In!

Jase Merson swore that his eyes were fooling him. Somehow. He looked up and down the figure before him. Yes, a Digimon was standing right in front of him, he was sure it was a 3D object, and he knew it was physical, but he was trying to convince himself it was some kind of trick. He was failing miserably. And, to top it all off, a part of him was disappointed that Vix didn't have breasts to go with that beautiful body of hers. No prizes for guessing which part it was.

They were in Keith's apartment. It was 6:50 PM. Jase had come over immediately after dinner to see Vix. Jase was more or less Keith's age. He had slicked-back red hair with a widow's peak, blue eyes, a build that was only marginally more fit than Keith's, jeans, and a white shirt under a grey jumper (the temperature had cooled down), along with a pair of black sandals. He was standing near the computer, staring at Vix, who was on the couch, looking back at him. "Holy crap, Keith."

"Maybe you should try saying something else?" Vix remarked, smirking. Jase shook his head to clear his thoughts, and looked at Keith, who was working on something on the laptop, and wearing a pair of shoes this time. "So, basically, our program accidentally opened the gateway to the Digital World? That's... Unreal."

"Yeah, it is. The connection is still stable. I've managed to write up a quick program to connect with the terminal on the other side so we can see through it and go through the gateway. It's strangely easy, though." Keith nodded, as he activated the gateway, showing the forest on the other side. Unfortunately, the forest was crowded by various Digimon, especially reporters. "Damn, I was hoping we could avoid the press a little longer."

Vix laughed, as she got off the couch, and walked towards the two. "Trust me, we got lucky. Until this whole thing blows over, expect to deal with the paparazzi a lot."

Then the doorbell rang. Keith looked at Jase, and squinted. "Jase, did you tell anyone else?"

"Um... I told Christa, Ada, and Heath, that's all!" Jase grinned sheepishly.

Keith sighed, as he went over to the door, and opened up. As Jase had said, Christa Pickett, Ada Horton, and Heath Chaney were there. Christa had auburn hair down to her shoulders. She had blue eyes, and wore a bright red shirt to cover her modest bust, along with a pair of orange shorts and slip-on shoes. "Hi, Keith!"

Ada was much less modest, and for a good reason. She had long brown hair, with brown eyes, and a c-cup bust to go along with her curvy body. She wore a blue top that showed her cleavage, and a white skirt, and finally, sandals. She was an up-and-coming model, after all. "What's with this Digimon stuff? I hope it's not a joke or something."

Heath looked a bit uncomfortable next to the girls, but was more relaxed when he saw Keith. He was a dirty blonde, with messy hair and blue eyes, and one could see obvious muscles in his arms, indicating that he exercised a lot. He wore just a dark blue shirt and a pair of green sports shorts, and a pair of running shoes. He looked past Keith, and blinked. "DUDE. Is that hot chick wearing a furry costume, or is that just me?"

The girls looked past as well. Keith sighed. "The cat's out of the bag. Guys, meet Vix, the first Digimon I ever met. A Renamon, to be precise."

They pushed past him, and Christa shook Vix's hand, almost squealing in delight. "I'm Christa Pickett! It's just so amazing to meet a real-life Digimon! Maybe you can be a reference for one of my art pieces?"

"Well, Heath and I aren't fans of the show or anything, but this is just so cool!" Ada grinned. "I'm Ada Horton. I'm a model." Vix looked at her figure and her clothing. "I figured as much."

"Dude, this is just so cool. I'm Heath. Heath Chaney." Heath smiled, hands in his pockets. "I play basketball for the school team, ya know."

"Um... It's a pleasure to meet you guys." Vix smiled. "I haven't met humans other than Keith before, so this is just as exciting for me as it is for you."

"Alright, guys, tonight, we're heading to the Digital World." Keith smiled, as he walked over, having locked the front door. "Trust me, you won't regret it, but be warned, the press are out there in full force. Until now, Digimon regarded us humans as myth, so just be prepared for the media frenzy, okay?"

The others nodded. Vix asked, "I need to go home, anyway, it's kinda late. Who wants to head to my place? I can invite a few friends over." The others nodded eagerly, Jase grinning. "Why the hell not. Let's go, already!"

Keith grabbed a red jacket off a nearby clothes rack and put it on, walked over to his computer, and touched the screen...

* * *

Keith wasn't feeling dirt this time.

He was standing upright, a few feet away from the terminal in the forest, and getting flashed by cameras held by the photographers who were alarmed and excited by his sudden appearance. Vix and Jase came through, followed by Christa, Ada and Heath. Jase turned around to mess with the terminal. Ada showed off in front of the cameras, Christa and Heath simply waved, and Keith stood there, realising that he's practically famous now, and so suddenly. Amazing. Vix stood next to him, nudging him on the shoulder. "Camera surprised, much?"

"Excuse me, young man!"

Keith found himself standing in front of an Elecmon wearing... A suit? It was a strange sight. Multiple other reporter Digimon bunched up near him. "Would you kindly introduce yourself and tell us how exactly you got here?"

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Keith Windslow. I'm a programmer." Keith smiled, as the anxiety began to melt away. "To be honest, it's kinda a coincidence. The guy messing with the terminal is Jase. He and I were experimenting with packet-sending over the internet, and then, the program freaked out. The terminal must have intercepted it somehow."

Vix explained, "I was the one who activated the terminal. I was out on a walk, and then I found it by accident."

"You're sorta on the mark, Keith." Jase noted. "I know you didn't want to screw with the terminal's programs, but you didn't need to write up a whole new program. This thing appears to be designed for opening the gateway. Looks like all it needed was for Vix to activate it. Your computer is automatically connected, I've already sent a program over to it so we can establish a stable gateway every time, as long as both are on, we can go between worlds whenever we want! I've also set a password to the connection with your computer so nobody else can use it."

This only made the media-types more excited. Then the police moved in. Riza, Havoc and Furey were there, making sure the media didn't bother them too much. Riza told them, "Give the teenagers some personal space, please. You have all the time in the world."

Havoc grabbed Keith's arm. "Come with us. We have things to discuss, regarding your presence in this world, and your safety."

The police lead the teenagers and Vix away, with the press following closely, until they reached the vehicles they had parked right outside the forest – police cars not unlike those found in the human world, but much larger, however, the teens quickly discovered that multiple parts of the cars could change in size to accommodate both the driver and the passengers, which was quite unreal to them. Keith got in the front car with Vix and Jase, with Riza driving, and noted that the other three had gotten into Havoc's car.

The trip was fairly short, with the cars stopping outside the surprisingly-normal looking police station, the teens being lead inside and into an office room away from the eyes and ears of the press. Of course, the office was pretty big, considering the size of Champion Digimon. Riza had the teenagers sit down on seats they had brought in, and Vix went out to make a few calls. Havoc and Furey guarded the door, as Riza sat behind her desk, and cleared her throat. "Good, considering the media were out in full force tonight, getting you kids here was fairly painless. Now, onto business. You do realise the ramifications of humans appearing in the Digital World, correct?"

Keith nodded. After all, the same thing would happen back on Earth if the existence of Digimon got out. "Yeah. There's so much that's different from what I originally thought would happen. Looks like we humans need to re-learn what there is to know about Digimon."

Riza stroked her chin for a second, and smiled. "Ah, about that... I have an idea, but let's talk about that later." Her expression changed to a frown, as she then noted, "But there's the problem of evil Digimon. As you have previously seen, there are Digimon who hate humans, a small minority, but minorities are not something to be underestimated. As you come in and out of the Digital World, I recommend working with the authorities, such as us, for the sake of your safety. I examined the terminal myself, and I have reason to believe there are others out there, and there's already others searching for these other terminals. The terminal we found will be guarded and there will be a surveillance and monitoring system in place, even if there is a password, I have no intention of taking chances. Whenever the terminal is being used or the gateway is opened, we will know."

Christa blinked, and looked at Keith. "Wait, did you end up in a fight against an evil Digimon?"

Keith laughed sheepishly. "A Devimon was kinda trying to cross between worlds. Vix, Shawn and I stopped him. Oh, right, you haven't met Shawn, have you? I'll introduce him to you la-"

"Wait, you fought a Devimon?!" Christa's eyes widened. "Do you have a Digivice or something?"

"Look, I'll explain later, and no, believe it or not, there was nothing like a Digivice I could use." Keith sighed, and faced back towards Riza. "I understand. Is there anything else?"

"Not really, but I would recommend that you all arrive at the terminal at 9AM tomorrow. Do you have school in the morning? It is Friday tomorrow."

"Uh, actually, today was the last day of school for us."

"Good. Hopefully, if I can arrange it, you'll find tomorrow's events quite valuable."

* * *

Another short escort later lead them to Vix's apartment. The four other teens were suitably impressed, and they sat around the TV as Keith elaborated on what happened earlier that day, especially the fight with Kazikli. He also demonstrated how to use effect and item cards, not to mention taught his friends how to play the card game. To say the least, this was overwhelming for said friends, and Keith played a practice match against Jase, which he won this time. Then, came a knock at the window.

Vix opened the window, and four other Digimon poured in. It was Shawn, plus an Agumon in a red shirt, a Biyomon with a blue bow on the curled feather on her head, and a Palmon in a pink dress. She smiled as they came in. "Figured you'd use the window, guys. The press are practically camping outside the front door." She looked at the teens watching with curiosity. "Told ya I'd invite a few friends over." She then began getting everyone drinks.

Shawn walked over to the couch, taking a seat next to a rather surprised Heath. "Hey. I'm Shawn, Keith already knows me. More humans? Sweet."

"I'm Kyo." The Agumon hopped up on the side of the couch next to Jase. "I work part-time at a video games store. Programming's my thing. It's amazing to actually meet humans face-to-face!" Jase blinked, and then grinned. "Hey, I think we're gonna get along well. I'm Jase Merson, nice to meet you."

The Biyomon waddled up next to Christa, who was sitting at the table on a chair, looking at cards. "I'm Rina, nice to meet you! Oh, something about myself, um... Oh, I've love to write a novel or something someday!" Christa giggled. "I'm Christa Pickett. Hey, I do art, myself. Traditional, digital, or even 3D models! We all have dreams, right?"

Ada and the Palmon, named Emily, had already gotten along like a house on fire. Emily was aspiring to be a fashion designer. "Darn, if only I brought the dress I made for my project, you'd love it!" Ada giggled. "Don't worry about it, we can look at it later."

It turned out, all five of the Digimon there were teenagers, some still in school, except for Shawn. Jase squinted at Shawn. "You dropped out and own a computer store?"

"Hell yeah. My dad used to own it, actually. He's retired. It's a good living for me." Shawn explained, before getting into a soda-drinking contest with Heath in the kitchen. Jase sighed, before Heath asked, having finished another glass of soda, "Hey, where's the booze?"

"Ah, Vix doesn't own alcohol. Now, Shawn, on the other hand..." Rina noted, playing Effect Cards with Christa. Heath grinned, looking at Shawn. "I'm starting to like this dude more and more."

"Thank God for that. Ten rowdy teenagers with access to beer would spell disaster." Keith laughed, as he wondered how exactly they were gonna spend the school holidays. "Five weeks of school holidays... Geez. Guys, who wants to spend those five weeks exploring the Digital World?"

"Hey, hey, hey, let's divide that time so WE can tour the human world, too!" Kyo noted. Keith smiled. "Alright, that's a plan. Who's up for that?"

Pretty much everyone raised their drinks in approval. Keith then raised his mug of hot chocolate, grinning. "From this day forth... We forge a new age, and our own destinies."

It was practically a party. Everyone got along well, but each human attached themselves to a particular Digimon, as Keith observed. He realised that bonds between partners were already forming, except, this time, it wasn't fate that did this. Not that he could tell, anyway. Everything about this was one big fat coincidence to him. But, regardless, he had five new friends. That was a good thing in any case.

When it became apparent that everyone should really be getting home, the Digimon managed to sneak the human teens out of the apartment, completely avoiding the paparazzi for the most part, until they reached the gateway terminal, where they simply went back through the gateway, but not before saying goodbye to their new-found friends. Tomorrow would be even better, Keith figured.

* * *

It was Friday morning.

And as it happened, Keith fell out of bed trying to turn off his alarm clock.

He wasted no time getting dressed, eating breakfast and generally making sure he was prepared for whatever Riza had in store for him and his friends, provided that said friends would turn up. As it happened, they did. Jase, Christa, Ada and Heath were at the door, more than eager for another trip to the Digital World. And when Keith activated the program, he saw Vix's smiling face looking back at him. It was 9 AM. Time to get going.

The human teens crossed the gateway, and found a similar reception to last night. But Riza and her subordinates wasted absolutely no time getting them out of the forest, and escorted them to a new location. This time, it was a high school. Keith looked out the window of the car, and his eyes widened. "What the... Okay, this is a surprise."

The school itself looked rather impressive, divided into three 'blocks' with a central quadrangle, and a sports oval behind the B block. In fact, to Keith, it resembled his high school, except more 'digital', with lines of code running across certain portions of it. The student body were out in the quadrangle, all of them Rookies, and they seemed to be waiting for them, accompanied by their higher-evolved teachers. When the humans got out of the cars and were lead into the quadrangle, the students let out a collective "Hello!" on instruction. Vix nudged Keith on the shoulder. "Don't be nervous. Most of them are teens like you. Heck, this is my school. I'll show you around."

"I'm trying not to be." Keith laughed, as he waved, being lead through the crowd, with his friends in tow. Jase was the nervous one. Christa waved with a smile, and Ada and Heath were loving the attention. Then Keith found himself stopping in front of a Champion Digimon – a Wizardmon wearing a grey version of the typical outfit. "I am Headmaster Merlin. I welcome you to DigiCity High. It is an honour. You have made the last day of the school year extremely memorable for these students."

"No, the honour is mine, Headmaster." Keith smiled, shaking Merlin's hand. "I'm Keith Windslow. These are my friends, Jase Merson, Christa Pickett, Ada Horton, and Heath Chaney."

As Keith introduced them, his friends shook the Headmaster's hand in order, each with a quick "hello" or "hi". Merlin stepped aside. "Vix here will lead you from here."

"Alright, guys, come on." Vix smiled, leading them away from the crowd, and up a flight of stairs in the B block, and through a hall to a particular classroom (room 2-4, to be precise), and opened the door.

They were greeted by yet another group of Digimon teenagers. All in their seats, except for one unoccupied spot. A Lillymon sat at the teacher's table, smiling. "Right on time, Vix! We could see you through the window. And you brought our visiting students for the day, too!"

"It's no problem, Miss Verity." Vix smiled, stepping aside to let the humans in. Keith then noticed that Kyo, Rina, and Emily were among the students in the class. "This is your class, huh?"

"Yes, it is. Vix is one of my students." Miss Verity answered for Vix. "I will be your teacher for the day. Inspector Riza asked us to organise a special lesson for you so you can learn about the Digital World and Digimon, since it is apparent that what you do know is incorrect in some places. But, first, please introduce yourselves to your peers. I understand that a few of my students already have gotten to know you, so that makes it easier."

The humans stood at the front of the class, and Vix took her seat. Keith grinned. "I'm Keith Windslow, up-and-coming programmer. I was the one to accidentally discover the gateway." He suddenly wrapped his arm around Jase's shoulders, which served to alleviate his friend's nervousness. "Though, I guess it wouldn't have happened without my 'partner in crime', so to speak, Jase Merson! All of us are from Sydney, Australia, we live around the Willoughby area." Jase waved with a hint of hesitation. "Uh... Hey."

"I'm Christa Pickett, artistic ace!" Christa followed up, smiling and waving enthusiastically. "Art, 3D modelling, whatever, I just love making things come to life through art!"

"I'm Ada Horton, up-and-coming model." Ada waved, making a quick hands-on-hips pose that caused blushes in more than just a few of the male Digimon in the room. That said it all, really. Heath flexed a muscle, grinning. "Heath Chaney, basketball star in the making, but I do other sports, too."

"Right, so now that they're introduced, let's begin our special lesson. This is something our Digimon students already know very well, of course." Miss Verity stood up, and activated the Smartboard behind her, and using the touch screen to write up a heading. "Now, first things first. Digimon. What do you think you know about Digital Monsters?"

"Ah, allow me." Jase picked up a marker, and started writing. "Digimon are creatures made up of pure data, like the world they inhabit. Digimon can be either feral like wild animals, or sentient with human-like intelligence, mannerisms and personalities, but they are generally the latter. If I remember correctly, there are roughly 882 known species of Digimon, with this number increasing constantly. The Digimon life cycle is similar to biological organisms, but they do not die under normal circumstances, since they are made out of reconfigurable data, they 'reincarnate' upon dying, transforming into an egg, called a Digitama, and the cycle begins again. But Digimon can die permanently under certain circumstances such as a Digimon's data being absorbed by another or the data being completely destroyed or deleted."

Jase handed the marker to Christa, smiling. "Come on, you're a fan, try it." Christa grinned, beginning to write as well. "Okay, next, we have Evolution, or Digivolution. Digimon are classified by their "digivolution level". There are six main levels of digi-evolution. Um... But what these levels are called are quite different if you look at the Japanese original and the western translations." She began to write up the two level lines.

Japanese: Baby 1 → Baby 2 → Child → Adult → Perfect → Ultimate

Western: Fresh/Baby → In-Training → Rookie → Champion → Ultimate → Mega

"That's why it gets a little bit confusing, you see. Digimon fans generally use "Perfect" and "Mega" as the last two names to avoid the "Ultimate" confusion altogether." Christa looked back at the class. Keith pointed out, "It's still a bit silly, if you ask me. "Perfect" shouldn't be worse than "Ultimate" or "Mega", perfect is, well, perfect. And then there's the "Super Ultimate" type right beyond Mega, which is even odder."

A Veemon in the class, wearing brown, fingerless gloves, raised his hand. The teacher nodded, and he came up to the front, grabbing a chair so he reach the board. "Yeah! Of course it doesn't make sense! That's why it ain't any of those things anymore. The first four levels are interchangeable in their names, but the last two levels, these days, are called "Mega" and "Super" instead, and we name "Super Ultimate" as "Hyper" instead. Oh, yeah, I'm Vex, by the way. Nice to meet you!" He began writing up the new evolution line...

Fresh/Baby 1 → In-Training/Baby 2 → Rookie/Child → Adult/Champion → Mega → Super → Hyper

"Great! It reduces confusion for pretty much everyone. Thanks, Vex!" Ada smiled.

Vex went back to his seat. Knowing the Ada and Heath know little about Digimon, he picked up the marker, and started writing, himself. "Right, so Digivolution is a process kinda like metamorphosis than typical evolution, where the Digimon, when they "evolve" or "Digivolve" change forms very quickly. It's kinda like an aging process. Since all you teens are in the "Child/Rookie" stage, I guess we can lump teens into that group as well. Generally, evolution forms resemble each other in some way, such as the Agumon line, but sometimes each evolution can look drastically different, like Patamon and Angemon. It usually occurs through enough training or gathering enough data. However, in the anime series and stuff like that, there are Digimon who are partnered with a human, Digivolution becomes much easier and flexible, and there are devices called "Digivices" or something similar that allows this. Using these devices, the Digivice channels enough energy into the Digimon to allow Digivolution, but after a battle, they change back into a lesser form, the higher the evolution, generally, the lesser the form." He also drew up a quick diagram of a Digivice.

The students were fascinated by the idea of a 'Digivice', but a Gatomon wearing a red bandanna raised her hand. "Hang on. Digivolution isn't a sole indicator of age, ya know. Some Digimon don't go on to the Champion level by choice. Like, Kyo here doesn't wanna go on to Digivolve into a Greymon, programming would kinda be easier as an Agumon, after all."

Kyo chuckled. "Figured you'd mention me, Nia." Keith nodded. "Good point. Also, before now, only the manga "V-Tamer" actually had Digimon with individual names. Generally, Digimon shared the names of their species. Crazy, huh? Oh, and gender. That's a bit of a confusing topic. Some Digimon have clearly-defined genders, such as Angewomon and LadyDevimon, others don't. However, "gender" in this case is more of a social distinction, another way of distinguishing between each other, than 'sex' in the biological, reproductive sense. I take it Digimon can't really reproduce?"

Vix decided to point out, "Well, we do, it's just more "sharing excess data" than what you humans... Do. That data then forms into a Digitama."

"Okay... Let's not go any further on that." Keith grinned sheepishly. Jase snatched away the marker. "There are other types of Digivolution, by the way, but let's not get into those. Some Digimon also have "mode changes", but that's a bit rarer, and not really a Digivolution. Now, attributes. I can assume that there are four possible attributes a Digimon can have, "Data", "Vaccine", "Virus" and "Variable", and they work in a "rock-paper-scissors" arrangement in combat, correct?" The class nodded. "There's also the rather trivial "families", which are really more to do with classification of species. "Types" are also a fairly trivial classification method, with types such as insects or reptiles, for example."

Miss Verity clapped, taking back the marker, and smiled. "Very good. It seems we didn't need to correct much after all. Now, we go onto the Digital World itself." She called up an animation and several images of the Digital World itself. Keith noted, "Well, the Digital World is much like our own, except it exists in data form. It shares similar geographical features such as continents, islands, mountains, deserts, rivers, and such. It's several decades old, I imagine, since it was first created when the first computer was activated."

"Decades? It's thousands of years old." A student pointed out. Heath blinked. "Uh, that can't be right, the first computer wasn't made until the early twentieth century, man."

"And, from what I can tell, there's no time difference between worlds, like, no "year inside, day outside" thing." Keith noted as well.

"Enough. Anyway, there are multiple settlements across the world. As it happens, we are in the only city in the Digital World, DigiCity." Miss Verity pointed out. "You have the basics correct. Everything else would require geography lessons, and we don't have time for that! Now, there is another reason why you're here... In exchange, you can tell us about your world."

"Oh, oh, we can totally do that!" Ada giggled. "Earth is like your world, except with a lot more cities and stuff, right? I dunno what you guys know about us through the fiction, but we don't really have powers like you guys do."

"And we can tell you loads of stuff about Australia." Heath started up, resulting in the students being on the edge of their seats. "Like, more than half of it is desert. All of the cities are mainly on the coast. The country started out as a penal settlement for the British, and then we gained independence and stuff, and now we're a multicultural nation and stuff. And the animals! Dude, they're so cool. But we kinda have a reputation for being a country with the most dangerous animals. Like the poisonous spiders. And the most deadly snakes in the world." The students leaned back a bit. "The kangaroos can disembowel you with a kick." A bit more. "The platypus males have poison barbs and stuff." Even more. "Cassowaries will chase you up a tree and play Cat's Cradle with your innards." Now they were just terrified. "The Koalas will tear your face off-"

"Okay, THAT is an exaggeration. Granted, the Koalas can still maim you, but still." Keith interrupted him, crossing his arms. "While Australia does have some pretty dangerous animals, sure, it's not like Australians are ridiculously tough as a result, like the foreign media plays us up to be. We only play along with that one because it's a compliment. But there are some beautiful animals out there, Australia practically has the most diverse fauna in the world. Australia has a whole bunch of beautiful parrots and other birds, the Cockatoo is an amazing bird when you get close to it, and Rainbow Lorrikeets occasionally come to my window begging for apple. Possums, Koalas and many other animals are cute – the Sugar Glider is one of the most adorable little things you will ever see. And the Platypus basically wins top prize for the "what the eff is THAT" factor. Then there's the geography, the sights, and so much else... I love Australia."

"What are you gonna do now?" Another student raised the question. Keith smiled. "Good question. In the anime series, it's usually fate that sucks the kids into the nearest wormhole to the Digital World, gives them a few Digivices and Digimon partners, and sends them on their way. I came to this world first, alone, and purely by accident, and not even a Digivice in sight. But... This is where coincidence ends, and where destiny begins, forged by our own hands."

Then the bell rang. Miss Verity checked her watch. "Oh, my. Is it time for recess already? Alright, run along now, class. We'll continue this after recess."

The class filed out, and went downstairs to the quadrangle with the human teens in tow, and found a good spot in the shade next to a large tree. Most of the student body were out there watching the humans, but the humans were mingling with the class, and also continuing where they left off from last night's party. Keith found it fun getting to know the various Digimon around him, but also liked to spend time around Vix, who he had, by then, figured was gonna be his 'partner'. And that was more than fine with him, by all means.

The continued lesson after recess was basically composed of questions fired back and forth. The Digimon learned more about the human world, while the humans learned some interesting things about the Digital World, such as the surprising fact that there wasn't really any proper "government" for any region, at best a council for a particular area for making collective decisions. However, in the middle of class, Furey opened the door. "Excuse me, but I have important news."

"It's quite alright." Miss Verity smiled, sitting back in her chair. "What is it?"

"Well, it was more for the humans, but I guess I don't need to keep it from the rest of you. Another gateway terminal was found this morning. And more humans came through it. Three British teenagers, to be precise, and they're being brought here as we speak."

This was the cause for surprise among the class, and Keith walked up to Furey. "_British _teens? I'm surprised that they're not Japanese, but I guess I should learn to not assume as much in this world. When are they arriving?"

"Roughly fifteen minutes." Furey nodded. Miss Verity got out of her seat, smiling. "Okay, then. Why don't we head out to the quadrangle and continue our lesson there while we wait for them?"

And they did, continuing the Q&A session under the shade of that same tree. As Furey had said, fifteen minutes later, Riza and Havoc returned with three human teenagers in tow, plus a Terriermon with a blue scarf. Keith was the first one to rush up to the teens, recognising them all as roughly about his age as well. Two guys, one girl. The male at the front of the trio came up to Keith, the Terriermon following. "Well, bugger me. You really are Australians. I was surprised to hear that the first humans to enter the Digital World weren't Japanese."

"Same about you." Keith laughed, extending his hand. "I'm Keith Windslow. And you are?"

"James. James Kessal." James shook Keith's hand. He had dark red hair, glasses, and a black jacket over a blue shirt which covered his medium build, and he also wore grey pants, complete with jogging shoes and a fancy-looking watch. "And this little guy is Linker."

Linker smiled. "Hey. I'm the one who found the terminal. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"And these are my friends. We were working on a programming project when we ended up in the Digital World by accident." James moved aside so his friends could come closer. "Roy Hawk and Lisa Juse."

Roy had messy black hair, and dark red eyes. He was also clearly overweight, but not that much. He wore a green shirt, and jeans that barely fit him, and running shoes as well. "Oh, hello. You're the guys who beat us to being the first humans here? Congrats."

"Yeah, and Australians, to boot? Nobody saw that coming." Lisa smiled, shaking Keith's hand. She was a blonde, with long hair and blue eyes, her body was thin yet modest with a purple shirt and a cyan skirt, and high-heels. "We should go out adventuring together!"

"Maybe later." Keith smiled, looking towards his friends. "Now I should introduce you to my friends."

After a quick round of introductions, Riza and Furey left urgently to attend to something important somewhere else in the city, leaving Havoc behind to guard. The Brits were quick to mingle with the class and the Australian teenagers. Roy and Lisa had especially become attached to Vex and Nia respectively, which Keith was quick to notice. _When humans and Digimon interact, partnerships are not far behind, _he thought to himself. Maybe that's just how it works?

Of course, he was quickly reminded that trouble also tends to come up just as quickly, as, out of nowhere, a large Digimon burst out of the ground, a pair of pincers taking Miss Verity and Havoc by surprise, and slammed them into a wall, knocking them out. Everyone else began to run away from the Digimon, which they quickly identified as a Kuwagamon. The red beetle Digimon roared, as Keith stopped running, turned around, and drew cards, creating a fire whip, a titanium shield, and a boomerang cross. "Enemy of the week number 2! We have to stop this bastard from trashing the entire school! Where are the teachers?!"

"They're out cold!" Emily yelled out, having checked a nearby classroom. "Everyone inside is out cold! Something's wrong!"

"Bugger. Looks like we'll have to take him down ourselves!" James drew some cards of his own, creating a electrical longsword, chain mail armour, and a titanium shield of his own. "Don't go thinking you're the only one who knows how to use effect cards!"

The students began fighting back, using their own attacks to try and force back the Kuwagamon, but it was clear that their enemy wasn't an ordinary Kuwagamon. Vix landed next to Keith, after attacking with a Diamond Storm. "I can sense it, that Digimon is enhanced by dark power! We won't be able to take it down on our own!"

"I don't think we can make that judgement..." Keith charged, ducking the Kuwagamon's pincer, and smashing it in the face with the whip, "just yet!"

James charged as well, slashing their foe, causing it to stumble backwards thanks to the electrical effect. The other human teens started drawing cards to experiment with items, soon the Kuwagamon was under fire from flaming arrows from Jase, a light spear used by Christa, an ice lance used by Ada, a dark baseball bat being used by Heath, a poison hammer used by Roy, and electrical crossbow bolts from Lisa. This sudden assault was halted when the Kuwagamon swung his pincer, knocking the humans back. The other Digimon took the offensive, lead by Vix, but it barely lasted, as the Kuwagamon knocked them away as well, and Vix found herself about to be sliced in two by its Power Guillotine pincer attack...

Except, she wasn't.

Keith and James were blocking the pincer using their shields, stopping it from going all the way. Linker was helping James push back. Keith looked at Vix, smiling. "You alright, Vix?"

"Yeah, I... Wait. You idiots!" Vix sighed, and tried to help Keith push back. "You didn't have to do this..."

"Are you joking? Of course I had to! We're partners, after all." Keith groaned, as the pincer slowly closed in. "We can do this, I know we can..."

"Partners...?" Vix blinked. Keith nodded. "Yeah. Even if the odds are against us, our bond is stronger! We can do this, dammit! Believe in me who believes in you!"

Vix smiled, as she began to glow. "Keith... Thank you." James grinned. "Come on, Linker, let's finish this!" Linker nodded, suddenly glowing as well. "Right behind you, James!"

"DIGIVOLVE!"

In a sudden flash, the Kuwagamon was knocked back, as Vix and Linker had suddenly Digivolved into their Champion forms – Kyubimon and Gargomon, respectively. Keith and James were also primed for a fight. Keith tossed the cross boomerang, hitting the Kuwagamon in the head, giving Linker an opportunity to use his Gatling Arm attack, blasting the enemy Digimon with constant gunfire from his arms. Vix used her Fox Flame Dragon attack, spinning rapidly and covering her body in blue flames, unleashing a flaming dragon which struck Kuwagamon hard, giving Keith and James an opening to strike. Keith struck hard multiple times with the mace on the whip, and James stabbed the Kuwagamon with the sword, electrocuting it constantly until it collapsed. Keith thrusted his arm into the air. "VICTORY!"

Vix and Linker devolved back into their Rookie forms, both of them hugging their partners in relief and joy. The Digimon students began to cheer, as the human teens came over to see if Keith and James were alright. A few cuts, but nothing to be concerned about. Miss Verity and Havoc quickly recovered, as did everyone else in the school, who came out to praise the heroes who saved the school. Riza and Furey came back, having sorted out their previous problem, and contained the Kuwagamon. Riza, however, looked concerned. "This seems like too much of a coincidence. The teachers and the other students were gassed. The Kuwagamon was enhanced by some sort of dark energy. I have reason to believe this was planned. I will investigate this."

There was a much heavier police presence (and the media were now there in greater numbers to cover the story. Keith was forced to get involved in a few short interviews as well), but the rest of the school day was fairly uneventful, with the British teenagers joining the lesson, quickly catching up on what they missed.

Eventually, it was time to leave. Before James, Roy and Lisa were escorted away, James locked hands with Keith. "It was a pleasure fighting alongside you. Tell you what. Let's go find the other terminals. It'll be an adventure!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Keith smiled, letting go, and waved as the Brits were lead away. He turned around to see his friends, and their Digimon partners. "You heard him. If you can make it, we'll start our adventure tomorrow!"

* * *

Keith lay back on his bed. It was 10 PM, and he was wondering if he should stay up or get some sleep. Probably the latter. He had a big day tomorrow, after all.

"Hey."

He looked to the side. Vix was at the bedroom door, a hand on the side. She was the only other person who knew the password to the gate linked to his computer. He and Jase had linked the terminal to their friends' other computers, and it seems the computers of their new friends from Britain were automatically linked as well, which meant they could open the gate at any active terminal. He smiled. "Oh, hey, Vix. It's a bit late, isn't it?"

"Maaaabbbyyyeee." She grinned, sitting down next to him. "So, since we're partners, and all... How do you think I managed to Digivolve like that? You don't have that 'Digivice' thingy..."

"All it takes, I think, is a little belief in yourself and others. In this case, it's the bond between us that allowed it, I think." Keith noted, looking up at her with a smile. "We don't need no stinking Digivice to do awesome things. This is why I like the power of friendship, hope and all that stuff. It's because, well, it freaking _works._"

"I suppose not." Vix chuckled. Keith suddenly sat up, with something on his mind, putting his hand on his chin in thought. "In fact... It might be a fantastic way for me to improve my programming skills. The Digital World is made up of pure data, data that can be manipulated. Maybe I can figure out how to manipulate that data through programming. Changing geography, creating objects..."

"And possibly new Digimon?" Vix asked. Keith nodded. "Yeah, yeah! I should talk to Jase about that. Maybe he's thinking the same thing."

"Well, I guess I shouldn't distract you from your ideas. Have a good night, Keith." Vix got off the bed, and was about to walk out of the room, when Keith spoke up. "Vix, wait a sec." She turned around, and Keith chuckled. "Remember: Destiny is something we make for ourselves, not by others."

"You honestly don't believe in fate in the traditional sense, do you?" Vix asked, with a smile. Keith suddenly jumped to his feet, arms crossed, grinning, as he suddenly did his best Kamina impression. "Damn well I don't! Screw that! Who the hell do you think I am?!"

This got drew some laughter out of Vix. She smiled again. "I hope you're right. After all, believe in me who believes in you, right?"

Keith sat back down, chuckling. "Yeah. Well, get some rest. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow. Night, Vix."

"Night, Keith." Vix walked out, with a backwards wave of sorts to him, and Keith heard the gate activate, and then close again. He lay back down, looking up at the ceiling. There was an entire world inviting him to explore it. Even with the dangers that come with it, he knew he'd never regret finding the Digital World.

_To Be Continued_


	3. Chapter 3: The Northern Ruins

_**Chapter 3: The Northern Ruins**_

The third day in the Digital World.

Keith had gotten up abnormally early – 6 AM, to be precise. He figured that the excitement of exploring the Digital World was the cause. Of course, there was also an arrangement with the British teens – for them, it would quite literally be 7 PM. This way, there was more time for them to explore together. As Keith noted to Vix as she came into his apartment via the computer, "This is why time zones suck so damn much."

Vix chuckled, as she leaned back on the desk. "Stop complaining, and let's go. Our friends are waiting for us."

"Wait, they are?"

This time, there wasn't any need to wait for the others. Their computers were linked up to the gate terminal system, which resulted in them waiting for him at the forest, which was a surprise for him. But it was a relief to see that the media were not there at all, as the 6 AM arrangement was, well, secret, and they would not have a clue that they would get up at this hour in the morning. His friends, their partners, and the British teens plus their partners, were all there. "About time, Keith, you slowpoke." Christa giggled. Keith laughed sheepishly. "Right, I kinda forgot I don't have to wait for you guys."

"No harm done. Roy, Lisa and I have been checking things out while we had the time. The Digimon here are more than happy to accompany us as we look for the terminals, and before we start our search proper, there's something we've arranged. It's a surprise." James smiled.

Shawn, being there as well, laughed. "Ah, my dad said he'd take care of the store for me. You guys sure you haven't got part-time jobs that'll get in the way of this?"

"What, in the morning or evening? Hell no. Most of our shifts are spread out across the afternoons." Jase replied.

Keith nodded, and spoke up, looking back at James. "Right, so, James, what's this 'arrangement'?"

"Just follow us. You'll see." James suddenly took several steps back, and suddenly starting running in the other direction, with Lisa following. Roy was having a hard time keeping up. Keith sighed. "Well, I guess it's a race, then." Then he burst into a sprint, himself, taking care not to trip over the tree roots. His friends were quick to follow. Vix was even quicker, outrunning him without even breaking a sweat. Keith, being a 'geek', was not that fit, he did exercise, but, then again, a Renamon would have no trouble outrunning a human in most cases. He found that James, however, certainly did exercise regularly as it seemed, as he was a faster runner and was able to keep up his sprints for longer, but even he was outran by Vix.

By the time they stopped, they seemed to have reached their destination. Keith was panting heavily, his hands on his knees and his head tiled downwards, he felt like he had run several miles. He had barely even taken a glance at the sight before him, he knew it was grassy, from the ground both in front and ahead of him. "Son of a... I hope it's worth it, James, because-"

"Oh, it is. Look."

Keith looked up. His eyes widened. The sight that met his eyes was unexpected, to say the least, for him. The ground that he initially mistook for grass turned out to be some kind of flat, rubbery surface with all sorts of different patterns and colours. Stacks of giant toy blocks populated the locale, almost like a city of its own. Even the trees had toys hanging from their branches. It was some kind of village.

Then there were the eggs and cots. He saw an area specifically set aside for eggs and wooden cots, the latter holding freshly-hatched Digimon. There were so many. Keith just stood there, awestruck, not even noticing that the others had barely caught up, and his human friends were experiencing the sight for themselves. At this point, James smiled, extending an arm out towards the village, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to DigiCity's Primary Village, otherwise known as the Village of Beginnings. This is but one of many locations where Digimon are born and reborn, when the data does not come from two particular 'parents'."

Jase blinked. "Amazing! So, you wanted to show us this?"

"Ah, not just this. That was not the arrangement. You'll see. There's someone I want you guys to meet." James replied, walking off, and everyone else were quick to follow him. Their Digimon partners kept quiet – they knew this place, and they preferred not to spoil the surprise.

James lead them into the area where all the cots were, to a Digimon who was attending to a group of them. A Calumon with purple ribbons on her ears was feeding some of the infant Digimon. Upon noticing the group approach her, she finished feeding one of them and waddled over to them. "James! I guess these guys are the other humans, culu?"

"Hello, Liz. Long time no see." Vix stepped forward, interrupting James before he could even speak. "This is Keith, Jase, Christa, Ada and Heath. Guys, this is Liz, she manages the village and takes care of the eggs and infant Digimon here. Practically everyone in DigiCity has met her at some point, and she has a photographic memory, to boot."

"Hey!" "Hi!" "Hiya!" "Heya!" "Yo!" Were the resulting greetings from the Australian teens. Christa kneeled down to get down to Liz's level. "You're a Calumon, huh? Your species has the ability to make Digimon evolve, right?"

"Yeah! Though, that's kinda why my kind is so rare, culu." Liz explained. "I may look small and cute, but I know all there is to know about raising Digimon, culu. A lot of Digimon who were raised in DigiCity think of me as a mother, culu."

James smiled, as he re-entered the conversation. "Speaking of raising Digimon... The arrangement I was talking about, was that I've volunteered you all for helping out part-time here. In short, we're going to try our hand out as proper tamers. We even have a group of eggs picked out for us to raise on our own. The eggs and the Digimon will stay here when you're off elsewhere, so they'll be in good hands when you're not here. I know it's sudden, but if anyone doesn't want to-"

"Wait, you were thinking that any of us were going to decline?" Heath interrupted, hands in his pocket, with a grin on his face. "Yeah, creature-raising games, I never had any interest in those, but the chance to raise a real-life Digimon? Why the hell would any of us turn that down?"

Shawn chuckled. "Didn't think YOU would go for this sort of thing."

Kyo looked up at Jase. "What about you, you gonna go for it?" Jase laughed, though he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah... Though I'm not sure how good a tamer I'll be..."

"You'll be fine, Jase, you need to work on your confidence a bit more." Christa giggled. Rina smiled at her. "With those words, I have no doubt you'll be a great tamer!"

Ada grinned excitedly, practically jumping up and down, though she was trying to stop herself with no success. "Omigod, omigod, this is gonna be so AWESOME!" Emily was also trying to get her to calm down, with no success. "Well, it is exciting, but can you not get too overexcited?"

Keith clenched his fist, thinking it over, before grinning. "Did you even need to ask? I couldn't possibly pass this up. No way."

Liz smiled, as she began waddling over towards the eggs. "Well, it's decided, then, culu! Follow me, so you can pick your eggs, culu!"

The group followed her over to the egg section of the village. The eggs lying around seemed to be strewn around haphazardly, but it had a strange sense of order to them. In the middle, was a small cluster of eggs, five of them, with different colours (red, blue, green, yellow and purple) with three more off to the side (black, brown, and white). Vex explained, "We picked eggs at random, and gathered them together for you guys to pick. James, Roy and Lisa have already picked theirs. Part of the fun is not quite knowing what kind of Digimon you'll raise! The colour doesn't mean much, really."

Keith nodded, stepping forward, and picking up the red egg, picking it up. "Well, I think I'll take this one."

Jase picked up the yellow egg, Christa picked up the blue, Ada picked up the purple egg, and Heath picked up the green egg. The other three picked up their eggs, James' was the brown egg, Roy's was the black egg, and Lisa's was the white. Keith held his egg in his hands carefully, feeling its weight and texture. It was absolutely amazing, in his mind. He could feel that there was life inside of the egg. He could feel it moving. He rubbed the egg's side carefully, curious, remembering that a Digi-Egg could hatch in the original Digimon Adventure by simply rubbing it. "I wonder when they'll hatch... I can't wait to meet mine!"

Much to his surprise, the egg hatched there and then, as the top half of the egg burst off, and a small red slime Digimon with bat wing-shaped ears emerged, its black eyes blinking at him with curiosity. It was a Jyarimon. Liz waddled up, smiling. "Well, there's your answer! He heard the call from your heart, and came out, culu!"

Keith looked around, to see his friends' eggs hatch in an almost seemingly random order. Then, he found that the egg he was holding disappeared, and a cot appeared in its place to hold the baby Digimon. The Jyarimon in his arms blinked at him again. "Jyr?" Keith chuckled, petting him carefully. "Hey, there, little guy... I'm gonna be your tamer! But what should I call you... Uh... Alwyn. Does Alwyn sound good?"

"Jyr!" The baby Digimon replied happily. Vix looked at Alwyn, and smiled. "I think you're gonna make a great tamer, Keith."

They then checked to see what the others got. Jase got a Fufumon, whom he decided to name "Max". Keith pointed out, "Isn't he a carrier of the X-Antibody?"

Kyo replied, "Well, yeah. But, to us, the X-Antibody is something of a mystery. It's actually very rare for Digimon who aren't born as carriers to get it. Heck, we're not even sure why it even exists, the "X-Program" that it was supposed to destroy is practically myth." Jase laughed. "Yeah, but that's kinda why I named him Max!"

"AW! HE'S SO CUTE~" Everyone looked over at a squealing Christa, who was holding a Pafumon in her arms, leaving Keith and Jase completely bewildered, though they agreed that it was very cute indeed. Christa smiled, and said, "You need a name! Uh... How about... Jamie?" Jamie nodded in approval, with Rina giggling.

"That's a nice name! But you gotta see mine! He's adorable!" Ada walked over, showing Christa her Tsubumon, and petting it. "I named him Neil." Emily nodded. "This is gonna be great!"

Heath grinned, holding up a Ketomon, with Shawn looking. "Kurt. That's yer name. I think we're gonna be good friends."

James got a Punimon, which he had named Erik. "Well, I guess I'm going to raise a Gabumon as well as Heath." Linker replied, "Uh, not quite. He might also digivolve into a Wanyamon." James chuckled. "Then he might end up as a Gaomon instead! Well, this'll be interesting."

Roy chuckled, as he stared down at the Petitmon in his arms, Vex also looking. "I guess I'll call you Darren, then? That works."

"I'll call you Lance, then!" Lisa smiled at the Paomon she held, and noted to Nia, "When he evolves, you're gonna have to put up with him, okay?" Nia cringed a bit, knowing exactly what said evolution was, but she complied with a heavy sigh. "Alright, I guess so."

The next hour was spent with the tamers and their partners acquainting themselves with the Digimon they were assigned to raise, while also learning about the village and its inhabitants, the various duties they had while working part-time there, such as feeding the babies and the in-training Digimon, cleaning up their poop, playing with them and telling them stories to pass the time. Some got into it better than others, but all of them had a fun time. Keith had found a shady spot under a tree where he and Vix could spend time with Alwyn. To him, this experience was entirely new, it was nothing like caring for a "virtual pet". He was caring for an actual creature, and a sentient one at that. Alwyn happily chugged down a bottle of milk, as Keith patted the back of his head. Being a tamer was way more fun than he ever expected.

However, their stay was brief, as James reminded them that they had somewhere to go. The tamers and their partners left the baby Digimon in Liz's care, and she waved as they set off. "See you later, culu!"

James was holding a map of the continent, as the group ventured towards the edge of the urban area of the city. "Right. Our first stop is the Northern Gaia Ruins, to the north of here. We can catch a train there, it'll be quick and easy."

They saw the station not far off, and went in. The station was fairly ordinary, but the ticket gates were replaced by a large barrier that let through anyone with a valid ticket. As James paid for their tickets in "bits" (the Digital World currency, he was given some by Riza), Christa asked, "Northern Gaia...? Is Gaia a continent?"

"The central server continent!" Rina replied, as they went onto the underground platform, and then stepped onto a Trailmon (the C-89 Model, to be precise) that just stopped at the station, and was heading north. "There are five server continents. Gaia, Uranus, Aether, Hemera, and Nyx. The waters that separate them are mainly the Cronus and Tethys oceans."

The tamers and their partners found their seats, and James unrolled a map of the entire Digital World, showing all five continents. As they spoke, the trailmon went through other stations, and, soon enough, into a large tunnel. "Pretty much. All of the continents are linked via the Digital World's extensive railway network, but Gaia is the central continent, and DigiCity was founded at its centre. Odds are, if more humans come through the terminals, they will likely come here first regardless of location, but it's better for us to get there first to prevent minimum confusion for everyone involved and make sure the terminals we find are active and linked. Once we find enough terminals, it would make travelling around the Digital World a snap, as we can enter the Digital World from any linked terminal, and for near-instantaneous travel, we can quickly go back to the 'real world' via one terminal, and re-enter the Digital World via another terminal and end up in a completely different place – like moving from one side of the world to the other in less than a minute."

Vix asked, "So, do we already know where the next gate terminal is?"

"Yep! Ever since the second terminal was found, Digimon are now actively looking for them, all over the Digital World. This means there'll be a much higher chance of humans coming through." Vex nodded. "One Lopmon and his buddies went searching the northern ruins, because apparently one of the terminals is hidden somewhere inside. Though, they haven't come out, and that's a problem."

"So, we get to the ruins, find those missing Digimon, find the terminal, and make sure it's linked." Lisa smiled. "As long as we don't run into any trouble, it should go smoothly!"

"Oh, thanks a lot, now you're just tempting fate." Heath groaned.

Keith burst into laughter. "Ah, screw fate! I make my own destiny. Even if something does go wrong, we'll solve the problem, no sweat."

"Well, you can't say he's not self-confident." Nia giggled.

"So... How long will it take to get to the ruins via this train?" Ada asked.

Roy decided to answer. "Actually, this is a Trailmon, a champion-level Digimon that is practically a living train. I'd make Thomas the Tank Engine comparisons, but Thomas doesn't have machine-guns."

"That is correct, sir." Another voice interrupted the conversation, and a screen on the wall activated, showing the face of the Trailmon they were riding, which surprised the tamers who didn't know so much about Digimon. "I am a C-89 Model, with a Battle Mode in case I need to protect the customers from outside threats. I assume you are the humans I have heard so much about? It is a pleasure to transport you today. We will reach your destination in an hour."

"To cross half a continent in an hour? Man! That's... Amazing!" Ada smiled.

The Trailmon replied, "It is a shame that I cannot go faster. I do admit, there are newer Trailmon models..."

"An hour's fine, once we find the terminal, getting back will be a snap." Jase replied. He leaned back on his seat, wondering about something. "And to think, we know all about Digimon, and the various possibilities of how the rules work, but it's another blank slate as far as we're concerned. Effect and Item cards are one thing, but a modern society of Digimon? Man. And there's no Digivice-like devices anywhere to be found, and you guys got Vix and Linker to evolve without them! There's no telling what's gonna happen now, or who we'll meet."

"Nevermind that, we're just about to leave the tunnel!" James announced, looking out the window. Light shined through the windows as the Trailmon left the tunnel, blinding the passengers for a second before they saw...

Endless green fields. DigiCity slowly began to disappear behind them, leaving nothing but grass, flowers and trees rushing past them. The tamers that stuck their heads out of the windows could feel the wind roaring past them. To them, it was amazing. Keith let himself be taken in by the cool, refreshing winds, and simply smiled. Vix poked her head out as well, grinning. "I take it you've never been on a country train, huh?"

"When you live in a country composed mostly of desert, you can imagine that countryside train rides are hard to come by." Keith simply stared out into the horizon. Was this the feeling that the kids from Digimn Frontier had when they first rode on a Trailmon? Or maybe Tsurugi's first Trailmon ride from Digimon Next? He reminded himself that, by all rights, this shouldn't be happening. Not to any normal person. But here he was, riding a Trailmon, in the Digital World, with a partner Digimon and his friends who too have partners. It was something to cherish, because he also realised that he might not be able to get the chance to take in the view like this again for a long while. There was always some kind of great evil looking to conquer both worlds, and until it's gone...

He had a feeling they had a long fight ahead of them.

"Attention, passengers: We have reached the Northern Ruins. It has been a pleasure transporting you today."

As they got off the Trailmon and began to make their way out of the station, Heath checked his backpack. He had brought along food and medical supplies, and had made sure he still had them. "Great. I think we'll be fine for the trip."

Right outside the station, the sight that greeted the group was a massive archaeological dig site, ancient ruins characterised by an ancient language none of them could even try to understand, and pyramids in a mixture of the style of the ancient Aztec and Mayan civilisations, maybe Inca as well. What remained of the residences of Digimon big or small. The group were wowed by the sight, the most impressed being Vix, who seemed to be gushing over the sight. "This is amazing! I always wanted to visit this site!"

Jase raised an eyebrow at this reaction. "Never figured you as a history buff."

"Oh, right, I didn't mention it, did I?" As the group walked down the stairs towards the site, Vix replied, "It's one of my favourite subjects. The past always fascinated me. How the Digital World was created, how Digimon civilisation developed... The past has so many mysteries! This particular site used to be a small village dedicated to worshipping Yggdrasil."

"Yggdrasil... The World Tree from Norse mythology. In the various Digimon stories, Yggdrasil sometimes appears as a computer that acts as the Digital World's god. For some reason, it often tries to destroy the human world or Digital World for its own reasons, sometimes both, and gets destroyed in the process." James said, as he noticed that their arrival had drawn quite a bit of attention from various Digimon that were on the site, a few tourists here and there, but mostly the archaeologists and excavators on-site.

One particular archaeologist came forward, a Centarumon, wearing a brown vest and a fedora. He bowed, as the group reached the last steps. "Welcome, young ones. I am Caesar, head archaeologist at this dig site."

Keith chuckled. "The name being the same as the ancient Roman general may or may not be a coincidence, I take it?"

Caesar laughed back. "I do not know your world's history, but, perhaps! I assume you came because of the Gate Terminal?"

"Gate Terminal? Is that the actual name for those terminals?" Jase asked.

Caesar nodded, beginning to turn around. "You may introduce yourselves as we go along, though it will not be necessary, I already know your names. I will be the one escorting you into the ruins. One of these pyramids houses the entrance to a labyrinth, and only I know it by heart."

The group followed closely behind Caesar, as he stepped onto the stairs of the pyramid he mentioned... And the half of the stairs he was on began moving upwards like an escalator. The others stepped onto the moving stairs. Christa nearly lost her balance. "Wh-Whoa! Whoever built this place must've been an advanced civilisation!"

"In a sense, yes, though things such as this aren't so uncommon. It's handy, however, for someone such as I." Caesar replied, "Tell me, how old do you believe the Digital World is?"

"It was created due to the activation of the first computer, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer, or ABC, right? ABC was activated in 1942. 67 years ago." Jase answered.

"Technically, you are correct, I suppose. In your world's years, however. When the Digital World was first created, it was... Chaotic." They reached the top fairly soon, and Caesar lead everyone into the chamber at the top, a cube-shaped room with ancient frescoes adorning the walls, showing scenes of the Digital World's creation. In the centre of the room, a large portion of the floor seemed to be 'cut out' from the rest. Caesar motioned for everyone to stand in this particular section, and he pressed a button on the wall. The section began to go downwards, much to the surprise of the tamers.

"Figures this place would have a lift, too." Heath remarked.

The journey to the bottom of the shaft was more or less uneventful. When the lift stopped, a wall opened up, showing the entrance to the underground ruins. Caesar advised, "I suggest you stick close to me. This place is labyrinthine. As we go along, I will show you the ancient writings on these hallowed walls."

"Figured we were going to have to find our way in a maze." Ada muttered.

Caesar began leading the group along, taking multiple turns along the way. They soon came to a large chamber, a storage room with a multitude of pithoi (a type of container used by the Minoans), and writings on the walls, along with another set of frescoes. Most prominently on these frescoes, was a large ball of light. Caesar began to explain. "You mentioned ABC, and how the Digital World was created alongside it. That would be correct. ABC was a powerful being, the first Digital God. But it was mindless. It formed the Digital World, but was incapable of giving it any rules. Things began to form on their own, but they were... Incomplete."

Jase nodded. "ABC... It wasn't programmable. ENIAC was, though. Maybe that's the reason."

Heath asked, "What does something being 'programmable' have anything to do with that?"

Jase chuckled. "Think of it this way. A program is like a set of rules, conditions, input, and an output. Programming languages, like any other type of language, have a set of rules of what you can and can't do with them. Even the most bare-bones computer 'language', the only one a computer can actually understand, binary, has rules. Ones and zeroes, one for on, zero for off. They're switches. A computer that can be programmed can do a multitude of different tasks if the user so desires. One that can't be programmed can really only do the one specific task it was built-in to do, to change the task, you'd have to change the computer itself internally."

"It is a plausible theory, yes." Caesar nodded. "You mentioned ENIAC being programmable. ENIAC was the second Digital God, and it was intelligent, unlike ABC. It was a benevolent god, giving order to the chaos. And thus, allowing the first digital creatures to form. It had the power to manipulate time and space. It even gave its partner, ABC, intelligence. At this point, the legends are somewhat murky, apparently, ENIAC sought to bring its creators to the Digital World, and show them the wonderful things they have allowed to exist. This is where the first legends of humans came about. According the the legend, the humans who came to the Digital World began helping ENIAC establish order, and helped make things the way they are today, before going back to their world."

Christa nodded, as she looked around the frescos, noticing one particular fresco, adorned with the image of a two-headed dragon that looked like it was on fire, surrounded by chains of fractal codes, as well as a human boy with spiky brown hair, and a Monodramon beside him. "Wait a minute... This isn't what I think it is... Is it?"

"Ah, you noticed the legend of ZeedMillenniummon." Caesar turned towards her. "After the human creators went back to their world, digital life prospered, and they evolved into the creatures you see before you – Digimon. However, according to this legend, a powerful threat came from the future, by the name of ZeedMillenniummon, whom intended on changing history for his own goals. ENIAC and ABC was incapable of stopping him directly. But a hero from the future came in pursuit of ZeedMillenniummon – the dark god's mortal enemy, a human by the name of Ryo Akiyama. ENIAC would help this legendary hero and his Digimon partner fight this menace, and destroy it once and for all."

"Son of a..." Keith examined the fresco closely. There was no mistaking it. It was indeed Ryo Akiyama. "So the events of Brave Tamer DID happen!"

Roy blinked. "Brave Tamer? Huh?"

Lisa blinked. "I did kinda see the third season of Digimon... Ryo... Isn't that the handsome guy with Cyberdramon as his partner who made absolutely no sense as a character whatsoever?"

"Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer was a video game on the Wonderswan, a hand-held gaming console that never came outside of Asia. There were four Digimon games that came out for that system, all with the 'Tamer' name in their titles, and they all starred Ryo, way before Digimon Tamers (the third Digimon season) was produced. In each game, Ryo went on an adventure to defeat his arch-enemy, Millenniummon, all by himself with only his Digimon to help, except in the second game, where Ken helped out, and it's pretty much most of Ken's backstory." Keith explained. "Ryo was originally from the same universe as Tai, Matt, Izzy and the other Digidestined, but in the fourth game, he went to the Tamers universe after defeating Milleniummon for good, and never turned back."

Nia shook her head. "Whoa, whoa, hold up! You're saying the legendary tamer hero, Ryo Akiyama, never went home? That's... So tragic..."

"There's a reason for that. In the third game... The Digidestined lied to him, when they didn't need to." Jase sighed. "He spent the rest of the game as a heroic mime, and even didn't talk much in the game after. Well, that's not really the confirmed reason, but it's the most likely. Poor guy's been through a lot of crap. But I think he's happy where he is now. I dunno, if we ever figure out how to cross dimensions... Maybe we'll get to meet him."

All the Digimon in chamber, sans Ceasar, looked incredibly excited at the prospect. Kyo grinned, flexing his muscles. "I wanna be like Monodramon, strong and heroic... Though, I'd prefer to beat the bad guy without sacrificing my hide, thanks!"

James noted, "Well, not quite."

"What do you mean, 'not quite'?"

"Monodramon 'sacrificed' himself by performing a fusion with ZeedMillenniummon, resulting in a single Digi-Egg. In Digimon Tamers, Ryo's partner was a Cyberdramon, the 'Mega' evolution stage of Monodramon, which means the darker side of the fusion didn't win out. But while as Cyberdramon, that digimon would have a seemingly endless lust for battle, and Ryo had to control him constantly." James adjusted his glasses with his index finger. "An unfortunate price for putting an end to Millenniummon for good."

"At any rate," Caesar interrupted, "We can continue the subject of Ryo later. Before we continue, I'd like to finish my tale." He pointed towards another fresco, showing what appeared to be a large computer mixed with a giant robot, which resembled a white suit of armor, to an extent. "Eventually, ABC disappeared. ENIAC foresaw its eventual disappearance as well, and sought to ensure that a guardian would be there in its place to ensure order. It created Yggdrasil, the third Digital God. Upon its activation, Yggdrasil formed the Royal Knights, and then hid its presence, overseeing the Digital World ever since."

Christa was about to ask, "So... What does this have to do with the difference bet-"

But she was interrupted by Caesar. "Ah, yes, that. In the 'real world', the age of the Digital World is merely centuries. On this side, the Digital World is millions of years old. How is this possible? I have a theory, which is supported by the writings here. They speak of a 'time difference', which ENIAC, and later Yggdrasil, have been trying to fix. It seems time has been running 'fast' here for quite a long time. Back when the Digital World had been first created, for all we know, a single second could have amounted to several years."

"Well, clearly, they fixed it, because the time is exactly the same as... Huh. DigiCity time is fixed to Sydney's time zone on Earth. What do you know." Vix chuckled.

"That's neat, but... Aren't we supposed to be going somewhere?" Keith asked.

"Fair enough. Let us be off." Caesar began walking down the next corridor, leading everyone else. The maze-like ruins had not ended there, by any means. Linker had hopped up onto James' back, and was visibly creeped out. "James... This place really gives me the creeps... It might even be haunted or something!"

James chuckled. "Moumantai, Linker. Moumantai."

"What does that mean?"

"No worries! Relax! Take it easy!" James smiled, as he replied, looking over his shoulder at him. "I can't believe you don't know it."

Linker smiled back. "Hey, I kinda like that. Mou-man-tai!"

Lisa sighed. "Another Henry and his Terriermon? Let's hope this little guy actually has some tact!"

"Huh... That sounds a lot like Hakuna Matata. What a wonderful phrase..." Ada started singing that classic Lion King song. "Haukna Matata, ain't no passing phase..."

Lisa bumped up against her, grinning. "It means no worries, for the rest of your daaaaaaaayyyyyssss~"

It didn't take long for the rest of the tamers to join in, though it kind of left the Digimon out of the loop. "It's a problem frreeeeeeee, philosophhhyyyyyyy... Hakuna Matata!"

Shawn sighed. "You guys are such nerds."

Heath objected. "Hey, leave me out of the nerd club, it's just a really good song!"

Another five minutes passed, as the group continued to walk, taking turns as directed by Caesar. This eventually lead to an even bigger chamber – the size of a football stadium. In fact, it was a stadium, some kind of arena. The surprising scope of the arena was amazing. It was reminiscent of the Colosseum of Ancient Rome, and in a lot better condition. One could imagine the thousands of screaming spectators, watching as two Digimon fought in the centre of the arena, kicking up dust and sand with every movement, fighting for honour and glory.

Caesar extended his arm in front of him, announcing, "Welcome, to the arena. This is where Digimon fought each other for honour and glory, and show their respect for the Digital Gods."

Vix looked like she was about to squeal. Everyone else just looked around in awe. Rina smiled, as she said, "Okay, Vix, you were right, this stuff is freaking cool!"

"C-Caesar?"

A young voice came from the spectator seating area. A Lopmon popped his head up from behind the wall on the front end of it. He was wearing a blue bandanna. Then, next to him, a Betamon and a Crabmon popped out as well, also wearing orange and green bandannas as well, respectively. Caesar was quick to spot them. "Ah, Simon, Trevor, Richter. I figured you three would be here. Come on out."

The trio hopped down, and came over. The Lopmon, Simon, looked especially guilty. "S-Sorry, Mr. Caesar... I was so excited about meeting a human, that-"

"It's alright, young one. I will only administer a warning for now, but please, do not come here without an adult escort." Caesar replied. "But, you got your wish."

Another round of introductions occurred. The Betamon was Trevor, and the Crabmon was Richter. Then, Caesar explained, "The reason I knew these three would be here, is that this is where the Terminal is supposed to be hidden. The legendary Gate Terminals... They were said to be the devices that opened the portal to the human world, and now we know they are. I am certain one is here, but w-AH!"

The sudden cry was the result of a large dart hitting his neck, and he collapsed within seconds. Everyone dashed over to check if he was alright. James removed the dart, and looked over towards the direction of where the dart came from. "Some kind of chemical... Who's there?"

"Hehehehe... That's the main problem out of the way. Now you don't have a Champion-level to help you now!" Standing in the corridor the group just came from, was an Impmon with a grey biker vest, and a DemiDevimon with a fedora. The Impmon boasted, "Our lord wants you out of the way, and we're gonna make sure it happens!"

Vex narrowed his eyebrows. "Uh... You're two rookie-level Digimon who we don't even know. And you consider yourselves a threat?"

The DemiDevimon noted, looking at his 'partner', "He's got you there, boss."

The Impmon sighed, crossing his arms, and looking rather annoyed, as he looked at DemiDevimon, and then at the group in front of him. "Look, who said we were gonna fight you guys, huh? Like yesterday, we're gonna get someone else to trash you for us!"

Richter's eyes widened. "That attack on DigiCity High... That was you?"

"Ahahaha! Yeah, that's right!" The Impmon spread his arms out wide, as he gloated. "That was all us, Raymondo-sama, and my subordinate, Keppler! For the sake of our lord, we'll crush you!"

"Well, you're a nutty one. Who the hell uses Japanese honorifics with English speech?" Lisa crossed her arms.

"He might be a Japanophile or something." Roy suggested.

"Oh, SHUT UP!" Raymondo snapped, taking a step forward, but then stepped back, and smirked. "We'll be coming back... When our 'pet' has picked off all the meat from your bones!"

"Oh, yeah! He's a hungry one, he is! Have fun!" Keppler grinned, pressing a stone button on the wall. Then, a large stone slab came down, closing off the corridor. As far as the group could see, they were trapped, and their guide was out cold. Kyo freaked. "It's a t-"

"We know it's a trap, doofus." Jase chuckled, patting his partner on the head, before making a quick visual 'scan' of the chamber.

Roy rubbed his chin. "So. It's a trap. Except, we don't know what it is, and where it'll be. But we gotta find a way out anyway. Let's do it the D&D way – anyone got a ten-foot-pole?"

Jase looked up. "Uh... I don't think we'll need one right now. Look up."

Everyone looked up, to see a large cage hanging from the ceiling. And it contained a Tyrannomon, sound asleep. Nia blinked. "Why did those two idiots put it up _there?_"

"A better question – _how_ did those two idiots get it up there?" Vix asked.

"Well, this 'lord' of theirs must have more minions than them. Those two must've had muscle helping them out. Probably flight-capable Champion-level Digimon." Linker said.

"Well, it's asleep. Let's find a way out before it-" Rina was about to suggest something, but then the cage fell down, crashing to the ground loudly. "-wakes up. I spoke way too soon, there."

The Tyrannomon emerged from the smashed cage, yawning loudly, before focusing its attention on the group of Digimon and humans, who all stepped back. Trevor gulped. "What do we do? Do we even have a plan?"

James shook his head. "We don't have a plan yet, but we can certainly make one up as we go! This arena is huge, we've got more than enough space to spread out, that guy can only attack one of us at a time, hopefully. Stick to your partners, spread out, and..." He pointed to Simon, Trevor and Richter, "You three! Get Caesar out of the way, quickly, and hide!"

The trio nodded, and began dragging Caesar's unconscious body away towards the stands. The others split up into pairs, with each human and their partner Digimon. James attracted the Tyrannomon's attention by throwing a rock at it. "Hey, big and ugly! Come and get me!"

Upon getting Caesar up to the stands, the three Digimon there began to fret over where to hide. Richter noticed a strange, rectangular cut on the bottom of one of the seats. "Hey, what's this?"

"Wait, don't touch it! It might be a-" Simon was about to stop him, but Richter pressed the area enclosed by the cut, which caused a passageway to open up, the stairs and seats sliding down and forming a stairway to another passage. "Or, it could be that. I think we've found our hiding place!"

The Tyrannomon was conflicted on which target to strike at first. It focused its fire breath on James and Linker, whom both ran out of the way of the flames. A few arrows and crossbow bolts slammed into the dinosaur Digimon's back, and it turned around, to see Christa and Ada wielding a light bow and a water crossbow, respectively. Their partner Digimon immediately struck at it with their special attacks, but the dino Digimon brushed them aside with its claw, and blasted the two Digimon back with its fire breath.

Keith and James took the opportunity. Keith slammed his fire whip into the dino Digimon's right leg, and James stabbed an electric lance into the left. The Tyrannomon roared angrilly, swatting them both away with its tail. Vix and Linker's counterattack was no more effective, as the Tyrannomon swatted them away as well.

"Ugh... This is getting nowhere! That big guy can take hits and dish 'em out!" Roy said, observing things from his position.

Lisa nodded. "There's gotta be some way to phase him..."

The Tyrannomon roared, suddenly blasting his fire breath towards Heath. Shawn pushed him out of the way, but... "GAAAAHHH!" He screamed, as the flames washed over him, slamming him into a wall.

Heath rushed over to his partner, kneeling over him, as the Tyrannomon approached. "Man, what're you doing? You didn't need to do that!"

"Hey, we're partners, right...? Don't worry about me...!" Shawn chuckled.

The Tyrannomon was getting close. Heath got to his feet, clenching his fist, his eyes narrowing as he frowned at the beast. "You bastard...! How dare you hurt my partner! You're going down!"

The Tyrannomon roared at him in response, but Heath began running towards it, and leaped up, punching it in the nose. Right before the fist connected, said fist was surrounded by a strange, digital 'aura'.

The dino Digimon was knocked to the ground, as if the punch was being thrown by a being the same size as the Tyrannomon. Heath grinned, as he landed. "Take **that**, you son of a-Hey, what's up with my fist?" He finally noticed the aura, which was still there.

Keith's eyes widened. "Son of a... Is that what I think it is? And did Heath just pull a Masaru?"

Jase grinned. "If it is..." He rushed towards the Tyrannomon as it was beginning to get back up, Kyo right beside him. A blue aura formed around Jase's fists, fuelled by determination and spirit. "Alright, time for a little comeback!" Once he was within range, he executed a spinning jump uppercut. "SHORYUKEN!"

The uppercut slammed into the Tyrannomon's jaw, causing it to flip over and crash to the ground. Kyo pumped his claws into the air. "WOO! Way to go, Jase!"

Roy sighed. "We are such nerds."

Keith chuckled, as he closed his eyes, and concentrated. He had something to fight for. His friends, his partner, the whole Digital World... Like hell he was going to lose here! He opened his eyes, to see his fist covered in a yellow aura. "DigiSoul... That's what it is!" He looked up at the others. "Jase, Heath! Focus your DigiSoul on your partners! Trust me!"

The two nodded back, and concentrated, both of them wanting to help their partners, especially Heath, who wanted Shawn to recover from his wounds. Kyo and Shawn began glowing.

However, the Tyrannomon had other ideas, getting up, and was about to blast them with fire. However, it was smacked in the head by a flaming cannon ball, knocking it down. The cannonball had come from right in front of the secret passage that Richter had found, the three Digimon were there, as well as three human teenagers operating a cannon. The one at the front, a black-haired male, roughly Keith's height, with red eyes and a black vest, as well as jeans, grinned, as the cannonball hit its mark. "Interrupting a Digivolve is an intelligent tactic, but like hell we're gonna let you do that!"

"DIGIVOLVE!"

The two Digimon expanded in size, transforming. Kyo had become a Greymon, and Shawn had become a Garurumon. The Tyrannomon got to its feet, only to be blasted by two entirely different sets of flames. This time, it couldn't withstand them. It was knocked to the ground, defeated, and something emerged from its neck, and flew up into the air. It was a black machine gear. The black gear shattered quickly. The humans and their partners immediately celebrated their victory, as Kyo and Shawn reverted back to their rookie forms. Keith was still examining his DigiSoul aura. "I get it now. That's why we don't need the Digivice to evolve our partners. We have DigiSoul!"

"Isn't it called 'D.N.A'?"

"Nah, that name isn't nearly as badass." Keith replied, looking at the person who spoke to him. He was surprised to see the black-haired newcomer had come over and addressed him. "Wait, where did you come from?"

"Oh, us? That terminal over there." The black-haired boy pointed to the passageway. "Those Digimon explained the situation quickly to us, gave us some cards to use (and told us we could make 'em into actual weapons), and we decided to help you guys fight that thing! Oh, by the way, I'm Geoffrey Leisy. You are?"

"Keith. Keith Windslow. And I take it you're not from Sydney, are you?" Keith grinned, as they shook hands.

"Nah, Wellington. So... The first guys in the Digital World are sheep lovers, and we New Zealanders are the second?"

"Actually, those three are British, and they're second, so you're third." Keith pointed out James, Roy and Lisa... And then it occurred to him what Geoffrey just said. "Wait a minute. Oh, you did not just go there."

Geoffrey grinned, and the two burst into laughter. The British teens were listening, and left awfully confused. The two other New Zealand teenagers walked over, a boy and a girl. The boy, a tall blonde with blue eyes and wearing a fancy blue coat (with just a singlet underneath) and a pair of teal long pants, noted, "It's a 'rivalry' Australians and New Zealanders have, you see. Accusing each other of 'relations' with sheep is part of it. It's a big fat joke, of course, and both sides are in on it."

James blinked. "Oh, okay." He smiled. "Ah, I'm James Kessal, these are my 'local' friends, Roy Hawk and Lisa Juse. You are?"

The blonde teen replied, "Gerado Batzer. And this is Rafaela Kennemore."

Rafaela smiled. She was of medium height, but what made her stand out was the fact that she had rather tanned skin. She had long brown hair and brown eyes, a small nose, and she wore a green shirt (complete with a large radioactive symbol on the front), with a matching skirt. "Hi!"

After yet more introductions, it was discovered that the Tyrannomon was now more or less docile, the poor thing simply wondering where the hell it was now. Caesar also quickly woke up soon after, pleased what the humans had managed to accomplish while he was out cold. He was especially intrigued by the 'DigiSoul'. "I think there might be a use for this in this chamber."

He showed them a wall on the far side of the arena that was different from the others, and had a small section, weathered into the wall, which looked like a human hand, large enough for someone to place their hand against the wall and it would fit inside it. Keith placed his hand against the wall, calling out his DigiSoul. The wall suddenly began to rise up. It wasn't the door to a passage, however, but a cover for another wall, showing a list of names, in English. James stepped up, reading all the names from top to bottom. "I don't really get the significance of these na-What the?"

Linker blinked. "What's wrong?"

"I wouldn't say it's 'wrong', I'd say it's odd. Look at this name!" He pointed to a name near the bottom of the list. It read, 'SCOTT WINDSLOW'. Keith's eyes widened. "Scott Windslow... My great grandfather!"

"Let me see that." Vix read the name, and rubbed her chin. "That's odd. Why would your great grandfather's name be on a list, in a ruin that was once dedicated to worshipping the Digital Gods?"

Caesar thought about it, before he asked Keith, "Young man, was your great-grandfather involved in the creation of ABC or ENIAC?"

"Both." Keith said.

Christa blinked. "BOTH? How is that possible?"

"He was specifically requested by the US government to work on the project after his work on ABC finished the year before." Keith began to explain. "My great-grandfather used to live in America, before he and great grandma moved to Australia."

Gerado nodded. "That does make sense. I wouldn't have thought that your great-grandfather was involved in such monumental events in the history of computing!"

Keith sighed. "But... If my great-grandfather supposedly knew about the Digital World... Wouldn't my entire family have known about it as well?"

Caesar noted, "That, young one, is a mystery you will have to solve yourself."

Keith lay back in bed, his right arm over his head. He continued to stare at the DigiSoul flowing out of his fist. The power of human emotions. Today's trip had answered some nagging questions. But it also gave even more questions. The true nature of DigiSoul, his great-grandfather's connection to the Digital World, Raymondo and Kessler's 'lord'... Perhaps all of these will be answered in due time, he thought.

He decided not to ponder these questions any longer. He needed to get some sleep, after all.

_To Be Continued_


	4. Chapter 4: The Southern Waters

_**Chapter 4: The Southern Waters**_

_Koshiro 'Izzy' Izumi__'s apartment, on a first glance, would not seem unlike Keith's. However, on closer examination, it was clear that Izzy had devoted a lot of space in the living room to his computing. Though he kept his computer to just his desk, and said desk was clean and tidy, multiple cupboards around the room were put aside for storing computer parts and various types of electronic devices, both new and old, and in places, he hadn't bothered to clean things up yet. It just seemed that Izzy could not stand to throw such things away, no matter how old they became. Not many other people saw the point of it, but Izzy figured any of these things could be potentially useful again someday._

_Izzy himself was, as expected, at his computer desk, typing on the computer. However, he also had guests. __Taichi 'Tai' Yagami__ yawned, sitting down lazily in a on a spare chair with the chair itself reversed so he could rest his arms over the back. Tai's sister, __Hikari 'Kari' Yagami__, and another friend, __Sora Takenouchi__, sat down at a nearby table, enjoying some tea that Izzy had just prepared. Izzy stopped typing, swinging his chair around to face his guests, smiling. "You might find this latest piece of news I've found rather interesting."_

_Tai sighed, still slumped in his chair. "I can't imagine it could be that interesting enough to call us over, Izzy."_

_Sora giggled, before taking another sip of her tea. "Hear him out, Tai, come on."_

_Izzy chuckled, bemused by Tai's attitude, before beginning to explain. "You know about the rumor I told you about? Some guy in Australia apparently went to the Digital World, came back, told one of his friends, and the rumor spread from there. That was just three days ago."_

_Tai blinked. "Yeah, we know, but it's just a rumor, right? I mean, some nutty people trying to find the 'Digital World' isn't unheard of, remember that one English website with those nutjobs that thought they could get to the Digital World with their Digivice toys? What was it called...? Project Digiclipse?"_

"_Oh, I know, I know, but I did a bit of research into the rumor, with some help from Thomas, and I discovered something interesting. The two main names involved are 'Keith Windslow' and 'Jase Merson'." Izzy replied, rubbing his hands together. He seemed rather sure of himself. "Believe it or not, but I know them online. They don't have a clue who I really am, yet, but we're part of an online programming community, which Ken is also part of, and among our age group, these guys know their stuff, and I know they're reliable. I tried talking them both online. Keith's been playing coy with me whenever I bring up the subject, but Jase is far, far more eager to share the details, though it seems Keith has been reining him in."_

_Kari nodded. "Oh, that's cool! But... I guess there's more to that, huh?"_

"_Exactly, Kari." Now Izzy was really getting excited. "The day after, there was a report of a trio of British students whom had gone missing, no trace of how they managed to disappear. Then, later that day, they reappeared, and made their excuses. The exact same thing happened to a trio of students from New Zealand. All six students claim the whole thing is overblown, and both Keith and Jase say it's all a coincidence, but I don't buy it, and neither does Thomas. Thomas is going to go to London to investigate and see if he can get some information out of the British students. I'm gonna continue trying to get something out of Jase, Keith isn't gonna spill anything anytime soon."_

_It was time for Sora to play sceptic. "But, what if Keith and Jase are right? What if the whole thing is a coincidence and you're both on a wild goose chase?"_

"_I won't discard the possibility. But with all the things that the Digimon Anime have predicted accurately, I have to wonder, if for us, anything is a coincidence anymore..." Izzy turned around, continuing to type on the computer. He seemed to be working on a program of some sort. "But, wouldn't you want it to be true?"_

_The guests looked among themselves, contemplating his question, which was clearly rhetorical. All three of them had dreamed of fulfilling the fantasy that their anime counterparts had shown them on the TV. If Digimon were real, if the Digital World did exist, they'd grab that opportunity in a heartbeat. They'd love to have their chance at saving the world for real, but to just have Digimon partners would satisfy them enough._

_Tai got off his chair, walking over to the desk to look at what Izzy was working on. "What kind of program is that?"_

"_Ah, something I decided to do for kicks. Jase mentioned something about a packet experiment that he and Keith were working on when Keith was apparently sent to the Digital World. I'm just fooling around with a packet experiment of my own." Izzy said, as he finished compiling the program, and started testing. Suddenly, the screen began to flicker._

_Tai blinked. "I take it it's not supposed to do that?"_

"_Of course not!" Izzy said, then the screen began to freak out, with static, electricity, and warping visuals. Izzy and Tai began to move away from the screen, but both Kari and Sora noticed, and came over to investigate. However, the screen began to stabilise, showing the face of a teenager with brown hair, before the quad were sucked into the screen..._

It was a warm, sunny morning in DigiCity's Primary Village. After what had occurred the day before, the opportunity for all eleven Tamers and their partners to sit down with the Digimon they were raising, under the shade of a tree while surrounded by the inhabitants of the village, and talk about what happened the day before, and what they were going to do next. Geoffery, Gerado and Rafaela had gotten the Digimon they were going to raise the afternoon before – a MetalKoromon that Geoffery named Lonnie, a Punimon that Gerado named Julio, and a Puwamon that Rafaela named Nelson.

As Liz sat on his head in an utterly adorable fashion, James adjusted his glasses, and cleared his throat. "Now, before the rest of you guys arrived, Roy, Lisa and I have been working on figuring out the locations of the other terminals, with the invaluable assistance from Caesar. We discovered something that will make our job a lot easier. A list of the locations of each of the 'Gate Terminals', as the Digimon of old times had called them. They're all over the Digital World, but, thankfully, this will allow the local authorities to find and activate each of these. But we still have work to do. One of the Gate Terminals is located south of DigiCity, and the local authorities are having trouble finding it. They're asking for our assistance."

Keith pumped his fist forward. "Hell yeah! So we'll be able to travel all over the Digital World quickly in a jiffy!"

Christa did have concerns, though, as she held Jamie in her arms. "But what about those two guys, Raymondo and Keppler?"

"Already taken care of." James grinned. "Riza's gonna be hunting for them. As for where we're going, we're going to get some help. DigiPol have sent someone to help us. In case those two cause trouble again, he'll help take care of it."

The tamers were left completely clueless. Linker said, "DigiPol is kinda like the Digital World's global police force!"

"Okay, that kind makes sense, we've got Interpol back on our world..." Gerado scratched his head.

Geoffery smiled, as he cuddled Lonnie. "I wonder who else is going to come through the terminal. I'm surprised no Americans or Japanese have come through, yet!"

"I imagine by the time all the terminals are active, we'll have people of all nationalities coming and going." Roy remarked.

"Well... When that happens, we'll have a whole lot of people helping us make sure that, one day, both of our worlds will be able to co-exist in peace." Keith smiled, cuddling Alwyn. The baby Digimon yipped happily.

The sight that greeted the tamers and their Digimon partners upon getting off the Trailmon, was the beautiful shoreline that stretched across the edge of the continent. The grass field that stretched out from the edge of the town they had stopped in reached out and stopped at the edge of the beach. To the east, on the shore, the land elevated, with cliffs and rock formations that went as far as the eye could see. To the west, the shore was far less rocky, instead being a peaceful beach where young Digimon were playing in the sand.

The town itself was nothing to scoff at, either. Though it paled in comparison to DigiCity in terms of technological advancement, it had the feel of an old-fashioned fishing town, with brick and mortar buildings, becoming more based on wood as the town came further towards the shore, where the docks were, where boats and ships of various sizes were docked, others were out in the waters. It was clear that the town had been here for a long time.

As the group stepped off the platform, they spotted an Andromon in a black suit, holding up a piece of cardboard saying 'HUMANS'. Upon seeing them, the Andromon approached, with a smile. "Greetings, humans and partners. Welcome to the town of Posiden. I'm Issac. As you've probably already been told, I'm a member of DigiPol. It's an honour to meet you."

Keith shook hands with the android Digimon, smiling. "Likewise. A Mega's help is always good."

"Not so much against Super level Digimon, of course, but if this 'lord' had such power at his disposal, he would not be screwing around with just using Adult-levels." Issac laughed, as he turned, motioning for the group to follow him. "After this assignment, I'm gonna crack down on who is pulling the strings. But, for now, I think I have an idea of where to find this 'Gate Terminal' that's hidden around here. I'll show you."

He took the group eastward, towards the rocks. Some of the partners (and Ada) lamented not being able to go towards the less-rocky part of the shoreline. However, as they came closer, it was increasingly evident that these rocks had a natural beauty of their own, and not just the formations. The way the waves crashed onto the rocks, the accidental patterns that formed... But the most interesting thing was the cave that loomed ahead, eroded from the side of the cliff. Issac stopped in front of its entrance. "This cave is practically a maze. I don't think it's an accident that it's like this."

Kyo nodded. "Ah, you're saying, that somewhere inside this cave is the Gate Terminal?"

"Then, what's the big problem?" Lisa crossed her arms. It was a valid question. Surely a simple maze-like cave wouldn't stop a group of Digimon from searching every metre.

"The problem is, the cave is unstable. The locals have been avoiding searching this cave because it's dangerous. We can't just search willy-nilly, we'll have to be careful." Issac replied, taking a step forward. "Even worse if a fight breaks out. We have to find the terminal quickly, before an enemy appears."

James nodded. "Right. We'll split up, there's eleven pairs and you. We'll split up into four separate groups, three pairs each, the last group will be two pairs alongside Issac here."

"Sounds like a plan. Speaking of which, you're good at making plans quickly, James." Keith said.

They split up into groups accordingly. Keith, Geoffery, James and their partners in the first group, Christa, Ada, Lisa and their partners in the second group, Heath, Roy, Gerado and their partners in the third, and finally, Jase, Rafaela, their partners, and Issac. Each of the tamers and Digimon partners were given a radio communicator from Issac. As expected, as soon as the four groups went into the cave, a four-way split in the path appeared. Each group took one path each. From here on in, each group were isolated from the others.

Group 1's path was fairly straightforward. Quite literally, in fact. It was a straight path that went seemingly forever forward. Keith compensated for the lack of a torch by carrying a flaming sword. Geoffery groaned, Simon riding on his back, as they continued to walk. He despised this cave with every fibre of his being. It was dark, cold, damp, smelly... "Who the hell puts a Gate Terminal in a place like this? I can understand the ruins, but..."

"Yggdrasil knows. Whoever created the damn things must've had a strange sense of humor. Or he was a prick. Or maybe both." Vix said, as she continued to walk along. She didn't like this place either, the whole 'damp cave' thing was not good for her fur.

"Moumantai~" Linker grinned, riding on James' back.

Keith stared at the Brit, annoyed. He had a feeling how Linker was going to turn out at this rate. "This is your fault, you know, for telling him about that word. Next thing you know, he's gonna have a complete lack of tact."

James retorted in a bemused tone, "Ah, but you wouldn't be saying that if it was Christa, now would you?"

Keith blinked, then blushed, snapping back, "But she's not like that! What are you implying?"

"Oh, I dunno, you like her a lot?"

"Oh, you can't prove I like her in _that _way."

Geoffery grinned, looking at Keith. "We don't need to prove anything. The way you look at her, you looked disappointed that she wasn't in the same group as you, oh, and that blush right there. Among other things."

Keith looked away, somewhat embarrassed. "I still say you're jumping to conclusions."

Simon grinned. "Human romance is so weird, isn't it?"

"Sure is." Vix giggled. Linker nodded as well.

Group 2's route was somewhat different. In this case, it was an uphill walk, which seemed to constantly twisting left, as it moving upwards in a spiral. The provider of light in this case was Lisa, holding a halberd combined with the Light element effect, which washed away the darkness ahead of them. It didn't do much else, however, as the path was constantly turning, so they had no idea what was around the corner. Ada was shivering, her arms crossed, and looked absolutely miserable. "Th-This sucks... I don't wanna go searching this cave... It's cold, wet, dark... If I knew we were gonna be here, I'd have brought some warmer clothes!"

Nia sighed. "Sorry, Ada, but complaining about it won't make it any better."

"Exactly. We keep going, and if we don't find anything, we go back to the entrance and meet up with everyone else. Simple." Christa smiled, nudging Ada with her shoulder. The last thing she wanted was to see her friend so down.

"Besides... We might find the Terminal first. I can't wait to see the looks on James and Roy's faces if we do." Lisa grinned, as she quickly took the lead, but Christa and Ada caught up quickly.

"Oh, I take it you don't get many chances to one-up those two?" Rina asked.

"Not really." Lisa shrugged. "I love programming, but they're generally better at it than I am. On the other hand, I'm better at more 'physical' tasks than both of them. I could floor that fatso Roy any day of the week."

Emily giggled. "Now, that, is something I'd like to see!"

Lisa decided to change the subject, putting her arm on Christa's shoulder, grinning. "So, Christa, what's up with you and Keith?"

The sudden change of subject to something that Christa really did not want to talk about caused her to blush, snapping back in a flustered tone, "N-Nothing! We're just really good friends!"

"Pfft, yeah, right." Ada smirked. "Everyone has been seeing it since primary school. You both look at each other in that way when the other doesn't notice. And you two have actually went out on a couple of dates, but you never go anywhere with it."

Lisa looked at Ada, surprised. "Seriously? Childhood sweethearts?"

"We're not 'sweethearts'! We're just childhood friends, okay?" Christa snapped. Then she thought about what she was saying, before she groaned. "I've been roped into a 'he's not my boyfriend' thing, haven't I?"

Nia shrugged. "Human romance. So weird, isn't it?"

Rina and Emily both nodded.

Group 3 was going in a straight direction... Diagonally downwards, in a constant slope. Gerado was the person providing the light source this time, carrying a flaming naginata (a Japanese pole-like weapon, a wooden shaft with a curved blade on the end). Roy promptly sneezed. Gerado remarked, "You think anyone is talking about you right about now?"

"Probably James. Or Lisa. I tend to be the butt of jokes." Roy said, with a heavy sigh. "Why can't they give the fat guy a break?"

"Dude, you're not that fat. A few weeks of exercise, and I think you'll lose plenty of weight." Heath said, poking Roy in the stomach.

"Yeah! You don't give yourself enough credit, partner!" Vex chuckled, walking alongside Roy.

Shawn and Tevor nodded, as Roy looked at the other group members, and smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Group 4 seemed to be going in a zig-zag pattern, as the corners they constantly encountered were perfectly ninety degree angles, in the opposite direction of the corner before each one. This time, Jase had the foresight to actually have an actual torch. He had a strange feeling about all this. "Why do I suspect that there's more to this thing than meets the eye?"

Rafaela smirked, noting slyly, "What gave that away, the blatantly artificial nature of this cavern, or something else?"

Issac blinked, scanning the cavern with his sensors. "I am inclined to agree. This cave could not have been formed through natural means. In other words, this place was made to hide the Gate Terminal."

Trevor said, "But why would this cave be unstable? Wouldn't whoever did this want to keep it stable?"

Shawn shrugged. "Heck if we know. It could be for any number of reasons, but it doesn't matter now. All we're concerned with is finding that thing without making the ceiling crash down on top of us."

However, as all four groups were quick to find, something was indeed more than meets the eye.

"What-" "the-" "freaking-" "hell?"

All four groups ended up encountering a dead end. No alternate routes available to anyone. All four groups reported their discovery via communicator, which caused a lot of confusion between the groups.. Keith placed his hand against the perfectly flat wall. Something wasn't right. It was obvious this whole cave was artificial, but if everyone had searched this entire cave already, but found nothing, then that means this place was a red herring. Or there was something more...

Then he heard a scream from his communicator. He blinked, recognising it as Ada's voice. "What the hell?"

What had scared Ada were a pair of eyes in the darkness behind Group 2, which she had noticed. Christa stopped her as she backpedaled, terrified by the realisation that they had been cornered by something, and whatever it was, it didn't look friendly. The creature stepped into the light. It was an Ogremon, with a black bandanna around his head. "Well, well, what do we have here? Some pretty girls, cornered like rats. The name's Kimblee. Nothing personal, ladies, but I'm on orders to make you... Disappear."

"Yeah... Not on my watch, buster." Nia was already ready to fight, having gotten under Kimblee, and punched him in the stomach. The Oni choked, stepping back, but felt the brunt of a few more punches, before he gripped his club, and smacked Nia with it, sending the cat Digimon flying into the wall. Literally. She seemed to literally pass through it.

"NIA!" Lisa cried out, and looked at Kimblee, who was stepping towards them. She mustered her DigiSoul, charging towards the Oni, and clashing her halberd with his club, keeping him at bay while Christa, Ada, Rina and Emily tried to come up with a plan.

Christa looked towards the wall. "There's something wrong about this. There's more to that wall than meets the eye!" She walked up to it, and tried to touch it. Her hand passed through. "I knew it. It's an illusion. Through here!"

She ran through, as did the other three. Lisa broke away from Kimblee quickly after that, going through the wall as well. The Oni's eyes narrowed, as he stepped through the wall himself. "Oh, no you don't! You're not getting away from me!"

However, he didn't expect to see sunlight. Instead of another chamber, as he expected, Kimblee found himself emerging from an underground tunnel, and up onto a large cliff overlooking the ocean, the cliff covered in grass, which extended out to the plain nearby. On this same cliff, were the tamers and their partners. Lisa was making sure Nia was alright, while the others were wondering how they got there. And finally, the Gate Terminal was there. Rina blinked. "Hang on, this part of the cliff was just rock before! What's going on?"

"None of it was real. It was an illusion to cover up the Gate Terminal!" Christa concluded.

"Hey, hey, I'm still here!" Kimblee announced, before getting a thrown rock to the face for his trouble, courtesy of Ada, whom snapped back, "Oh, screw you! Go away, and don't you dare try to kill us again!"

"Yeah? You and what army? So you have a Champion-level, whoop-de-freakn'-doo. I'm a fighter, I can take on Champions." Kimblee boasted.

Christa grinned, as her DigiSoul, a pink colour, flared up. "What about three? Rina, let's do this."

"Say wha-Uh... Crap. I'm in for a lot of pain, aren't I."

Ada nodded, a purple DigiSoul flaring up around her fist. "Yep. Let's kick his butt, Emily!"

Emily and Rina nodded, as they glowed, and transformed. "DIGIVOLVE!" Rina digivolved into Birdramon, while Emily digivolved to Togemon. This caused Kimblee to sweatdrop, as Rina took to the air, and launched a cluster of small, flaming metors at him. "Meteor Wing!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Hey, you can fly, not fair!" Kimblee complained, as he tried to dance around the projectiles, but several of them smashed into him.

Then Nia came knocking, slamming her fist into his face. "Hey, don't forget about me!"

"Nor me!" "Or me!" "Me too!" Kimblee suddenly got a triple threat combo from Christa, Ada, and Lisa, all of them punching him, and hard. He was sent sprawling, but the finisher was Emily walking up to him, and sending him flying with an uppercut. "Knockout Fist!"

"OOOOOOOWWWW! I'll get you next time, you little brats!" Kimblee swore, as he was sent flying into the horizon.

The girls looked at each other, before bursting into relieved laughter. Rina and Emily devolved, joining in, the group coming together and celebrating their victory. Before long, the others emerged from the tunnel, wondering what the heck was going on. Lisa noticed, and said, "Hey, guys! We found the Terminal! Oh, and we beat the snot out of an Ogremon, too!"

Issac smiled, as he walked over to them. "Congrats! Good thing none of you are injured. Now..." He looked at the terminal. "Who will do the honours?"

Christa said, "Let Keith do it."

Keith blushed when Christa suggested it, stepping up to the Gate Terminal. "A-Alright, then." He turned it on, and ran a diagnostic check. "Alright, everything seems to be in order... Let's test this baby out, shall we?"

However, when he ran the Gate program, an unusual image formed. Four figures he swore he had seen before. He realised what this meant, and promptly stepped out of the way, before said four figures came crashing out of the Gate Terminal, in a pile. Four teenagers, all looking to be in their mid-teens, with the exception of the girl with brown hair, whom was slightly younger. Jase blinked, walking over. "Well, we've got more accidental visitors."

"Ow... Geez... What just happened...?" The brown-haired teenager in the pile got to his feet, groaning, while rubbing his head. "Uh, Izzy? I don't think we're in your apartment anymore."

Keith's eyes widened, as he recognised the figure in front of him. He swore this should be impossible. Surely, it was some sort of coincidence? He took a step forward, his jaw dropped, and just stared. "Taichi Kamiya?"

Jase blinked, and his eyes widened, too, as he recognised Tai as well.. "Wait, WHAT? NO WAY!"

Tai tilted his head in confusion. "Kamiya...? Uh, my last name is Yagami..." And then he realised why they called him that. "Oh. Oh, boy."

The other tamers and the Digimon gathered around, with varying amounts of awe and confusion. The other three human visitors also got to their feet, and the tamers recognised them as well. Christa's jaw dropped in awe. "No. Way. Sora and Kari?"

James adjusted his glasses. "And Izzy, too. What the hell is going on, here?"

Tai blinked, and looked at Izzy. "I think they recognise us from the anime."

"Well, that's obvious." Izzy replied, looking at the tamers around him... And then realised who else was with them. He stepped back. "D-Digimon?"

Sora gasped. "Oh, my. Agumon, Biyomon, Renamon... So many! Am I dreaming?"

Kari's answer to that was to knock on her forehead lightly to test. "I don't know about you, Sora, but I'm not."

Vix noted, "This is getting confusing."

Kyo nodded. "Yeah. We might as well explain to them what's going on."

Quickly enough, the four Japanese teenagers were sitting on the grass, opposite the tamers and the partners. Issac sat off to the side, between the two groups. Izzy smiled, as he started things off. "Alright, I guess we owe you an explanation first. My name is Koshiro Izumi, my friends call me 'Izzy'. The four of us come from Japan. I presume this is the Digital World, but let's set that aside for now."

Tai got up, and bowed in that Japanese style, before he sat back, leaning on his left arm while resting his right on his knee. "I'm Taichi Yagami, I took 'Tai' as a nickname. Nice to meet you guys!"

Sora bowed as well, and sat down with her legs crossed. "I'm Sora Takenouchi. They didn't really change my name in the English version of the anime, so..."

Kari also bowed, sitting on her legs. "I'm Hikari Yagami. Taichi is my older brother. My nickname is 'Kari'."

Roy pointed out, "I'm starting to see a pattern, here. The whole thing about the Digimon anime cast resembling you guys isn't a coincidence, is it?"

"Right you are." Izzy nodded. He rarely got the chance to tell anyone else this story. "Back in 1999, when the Digimon anime was going to be produced, a contest was held in Odaiba, Tokyo, and the winners would become main characters in the anime. You obviously know who won. Some of us were already friends back then. We were all fans of the Digimon V-Pets. But the experience was enough for us to all bond, and next thing you know, we were all good friends."

Keith laughed, delighted by what he was hearing. To him, this was amazing. "Yeah... This is the sort of thing that makes me wish I lived in Japan and not Australia-WAIT. FRIDGE LOGIC." Keith froze, and tapped his chin. "We speak English. You're Japanese. How the heck can we understand each other?"

"A wizard did it?" Heath suggested.

"Maybe DigiGnomes did it?" Shawn suggested. Everyone looked at Shawn, before the tamers and Digimon who actually knew what DigiGnomes were agreed, "Yeah, that would be about right."

Izzy smirked, before realising what Keith had also said. "Australia...? Hmm... Is that right, MajorWind?"

Keith looked at Izzy, and blinked, asking in a confused tone, "Wait, how do you know my online name?"

"Well... Does the name 'TentoKnowledge' ring any bells?"

Jase's jaw dropped. He and Keith recognised that online name. "Wha... You're TentoKnowledge? No wonder you were bugging us about the Digital World!"

"So... You were right, Izzy." Kari smiled. "Funny how we got beaten to the punch in becoming the first humans in the Digital World, and by Australians, no less."

Lisa corrected her, "And British and New Zealanders, don't forget that. You're the fourth group to come to the Digital World."

"Actually... We were all beaten to the punch years ago. By my own great-grandfather and his colleagues, no less, whom all worked on the ENIAC project." Keith pointed out.

"Fascinating. But let's talk about that later, shall we?" Izzy crossed his arms, as he looked around. "So... Let me get this straight. This is the Digital World?"

Linker grinned. "That's right! And you're not seeing things, either! Digimon exist!"

Tai leaned forward, interested. "So, those guys are you partners?" He then looked at Issac. "I guess he isn't."

"Well, of course not. I'm Issac. It is a pleasure to meet you." Issac introduced himself, and then raised a hand towards the tamers. "Why don't we start the rest of the introductions?"

Once again, the tamers and their partners introduced themselves. Tai smiled, crossing his legs and asking, "So, let's start with the questions from our side, I guess. How did all of us get here?"

This was a question Keith could easily answer. "Ah, that's an easy one. You see that terminal over there? That's a Gate Terminal, a device that facilitates travel between the real world and the Digital World. They haven't been active in ages, it seems, because every time someone activates one, a human gets chucked through into the Digital World by accident. That happened to me first, then I came back with my friends. Then, another gate activated thanks to Linker here, causing the Brits to come through. We then went searching for the gates, found the gate that the New Zealanders came through, and, as it happens, when we found and activated the gate over there, you guys came through."

"That... Makes sense. Like the Digital Gate (also called Digi-Ports) in the anime, but with proper devices for access rather than regular television screens." Izzy rubbed his chin. "If all this was deliberate, then the disappearances I saw in the news would be more discreet."

Kari asked, "Are there... Any Digivices or anything?"

"'Fraid not." Christa replied, looking a bit disappointed. "So far, we have been able to Digivolve our partners without the need for a Digivice, using our DigiSoul."

"DigiSoul? Marcus, Thomas, Yoshi and Keenan are gonna love this!" Sora smiled. "Oh, yeah, we didn't tell you, did we? The main characters of each Digimon anime series, or 'season' as you guys like to call them, were all picked via contests like we were in. We all get together every year as an anniversary celebration."

"Must... Resist... The... Urge... To... Go into fanboy mode..." Keith grinned. "The Savers cast? SWEET!"

"Right. So... Digimon have individual names, huh? That alone speaks volumes of how likely the Digital World is gonna be unexpected in a whole bunch of ways. What's the rest of the Digital World like?" Kari asked.

Gerado got up, pointing to the local town of Posiden nearby. "Well, from what us humans know, Digimon actually have proper settlements, each area with different cultures, like us! That fishing town down there is fairly old-fashioned, for starters."

"And then you have the continents, the oceans, our religion... You know, despite our differences, I can't help but feel that humans and Digimon aren't so different in some ways." Emily provided her input.

"And as for me... I'm part of DigiPol, a world-wide 'police force' of sorts. On the chance that there are crimes occurring that local authorities cannot handle, we'll be there." Issac smiled, as he rose to his feet. "Anyway, I have a report to file to HQ. This 'Kimblee' character appearing is something I gotta investigate myself."

As Issac left, Heath made a suggestion - "Why don't we explore the town first, and then head back to DigiCity?"

Tai blinked. "DigiCity?"

"Ah, you'll see."

The group sent a good while exploring the town, talking to the inhabitants (whom were more than hospitable), and though their visit was short, they made the most of it, looking into shops, the docks, and finally, the beautiful beach. When they finally regrouped at the Gate Terminal, James, Roy and Lisa realised that their time they had for the day in the Digital World was almost up, so they had to go home. Before they left, though, Izzy remembered something. "By the way, you three, Thomas said he's going to England to investigate the Digital World rumors, and he's gonna visit you guys. I'll let him know you're expecting him before he arrives."

Lisa looked excited by the idea of meeting the real-life Thomas, which bemused James and Roy. James nodded to Izzy. "Alright, if he's the real deal, we'll let him know the full details."

And quickly, with a flash, the three British tamers were gone. Keith volunteered to take everyone else through the gate in order to get to DigiCity...

"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't use my apartment as a mid-point anymore."

Unfortunately, the relatively small amount of space in Keith's apartment resulted in a messy pile of humans and Digimon in front of the computer desk. To say the least, getting everyone apart was somewhat awkward. "Argh, someone's sitting on me!" "Move to the left a bit!" "Okay, who's groping my breast?"

It took a good few minutes until everyone had gotten to their feet. Tai whistled, as he looked around. "Hey, Keith, your apartment is sweet!"

"Ah... Thanks, Tai-senpai." Keith smiled, walking over to his computer. To be complimented by Tai of all people was certainly something he was going to have to get used to. Though, before they would get going to DigiCity, Keith decided it would be a neat idea to check on other things, such as the number of gates opened and computers connected to the Gate system. He pulled up a map of the Digital World to check. What he saw shocked him. "Uh... Guys? You're not gonna believe this. At least a dozen more gates around the Digital World have opened, and there's even more computers in the human world connected to the gate system!"

Everyone scrambled up to look. He was right. Roughly a dozen extra red dots were on the map, and the connection counter at the bottom of the screen was even more than that. Vix nodded. "So we've got more humans all over the Digital World."

Shawn said, "Well, what're we gonna do about it? The Digital World can be a dangerous place."

Izzy scratched his chin. "True. I suggest delaying our DigiCity tour for now. We have to make sure all the humans coming into the Digital World are safe!"

Sora nodded. "Yeah! I suggest we split up into groups of two partner pairs, cover a lot more ground that way, and we bring everyone to DigiCity. Tai, Izzy, Kari and I will each attach ourselves to one of the groups, since we don't have partners yet."

Nia spoke up. "Vex, Linker and I will head back to DigiCity. We'll let Riza know that there'll be a whole lot of new humans coming there, and they'll need a welcoming committee."

Keith grinned, turning around. "Alright, let's get cracking! We want to make sure everyone who has come into the Digital World is accounted for!"

Across the Digital World, whether it was freezing cold or scorching heat, each group used the Gate Terminals to go to where the various humans were, ensuring that they were safe and sound. Thankfully, since the gates were found and being watched over by both local authorities and DigiPol, nobody was in serious danger. Quite a few of the humans had even already found potential partners. Of course, some of them were also Digimon fans, and the lucky ones who got to meet the four Japanese teens were both shocked and awed. Soon enough, a couple of hours later, all the humans and their partners were gathered in DigiCity Park.

Speaking of which, DigiCity Park was very much like Central Park in New York City. It was situated close to the DigiCity CBD. Trees covered the majority of the park, surrounded by flowers and other types of intriguing flora imported from all over the Digital World. The gathering took place around the largest tree in the park, which stood out among the rest for being a few metres taller and wider than the other trees. This tree was supposedly blessed by Yggdrasil itself.

Keith looked on the crowd talking amongst themselves, with his friends near him, and whistled. "Talk about a translation convention."

Riza stood right next to Keith, and nodded. "Well, this is going to make your speech rather interesting."

"Wait, a speech?"

"Yes. Isn't that how things are supposed to work? The hero gives a rousing speech to prepare his allies for what's to come?" Riza looked at him with a reassuring smile which failed to reassure Keith in the slightest.

Keith promptly sweatdropped, having realised that he should've seen this coming, but somehow didn't. "W-Wait! Why do I have to give the speech?"

"You were here before any of us were! Now, get in there and make us proud!" Christa pushed Keith firmly in front of the crowd, whom took notice and stopped talking amongst themselves.

This left Keith feeling awkward. But he knew he had to make do with what he was given. Might as well give it a shot. He cleared his throat, as he announced, "Alright. I'm Keith Windslow, as some of you already know, the first of us to enter the Digital World. Vix and I are more or less responsible for everyone being here. I know everyone's excited. I know I am." This resulted in a resounding cheer from the crowd. Keith motioned for them to settle down. "But this is the first time the Digital World at large has known the existence of humans, and the Digimon have been gracious hosts (for the most part, anyway). But who knows what would happen if the human world knew that Digimon existed? Remember how, in Digimon Savers, Kurata was able to so easily manipulate the Japanese government into thinking that the Digimon were a threat?"

The crowd nodded and muttered among themselves in agreement. They didn't want to see a repeat of that catastrophe. Keith waited for everyone to stop talking, before he continued. "Now, I don't believe in destiny in the 'traditional' manner. The only destiny that matters to me, is one that I forge with my own two hands. You can all do the same. We don't have Digivices, that's evidence enough that we're really all here by accident, but still! Our work here has only just begun. First things first, stemming the flow of humans coming to the Digital World. The last thing we want is for it to get out of hand. Once we make sure nobody else can just end up here by accident... Well, basically, we'll make sure that both worlds are capable of living in harmony, even if we have to beat the snot out of the local Dark Lord to do it!"

A resounding cheer roared out from the crowd, which managed to reinforce Keith's confidence. Riza began to organise everyone for a 'guided tour' of DigiCity, she was acting as the tour guide mostly because she was also the head of the escort party. Vix walked up to Keith, nudging him with her elbow. "Hey, not bad for a speech you came up with on the fly."

"Heh... Thanks. I think I could do better, though." Keith chuckled, scratching his back.

And so the tour began, via a rather large bus, beginning with the CBD. Keith hadn't noticed it before, but the CBD was already beyond the current cities in the real world in terms of modern architecture. Actually, it seemed more like a futuristic city than anything else. The buildings towered over them, their shapes smooth and sleek, the outsides looked metallic, as opposed to blocky and rough concrete and bricks. All sorts of odd shapes formed the various buildings that made up the CBD. Multi-coloured lines ran across and up them, electricity visibly moving through. Gerado smirked, as he stared at the lines. "Somehow, they manage to make electrical cables look pretty. That's impressive."

Soon enough, the bus stopped outside a mostly-abandoned building, the bottom half being dome-shaped, the other half in the shape of a cylinder, though the lights from the inside at the front were still on. Riza instructed everyone to get out, claiming that this would be a rather special stop. "While James, Roy and Lisa were left to their own devices, I told them about this building. It's old and nobody uses it anymore, so I suggested that they put it to good use somehow. They figured out a way. The renovations are not complete, so watch your step."

The 'tourists' didn't expect anything fancy. Thus, they were completely unprepared for, and blown away by what they saw.

The Main Lobby was a large, circular chamber with two levels with stairways leading up to the second level. Though seemingly high-tech as the city outside, the room instead was mostly composed of blue carpet and what looked like polished wood, the latter composing the walls, railings and a good deal of the furniture including chairs, which were also covered in a high-quality purple fabric. There were also several impressive paintings on the walls. The room had multiple seating areas with televisions, mostly for quick meetings. There was also a receptionist counter. Add in old-fashioned lighting, and the lobby had a feeling of high class and sophistication. Several Digimon were still in the room, working on the final touches to the renovations.

Tai, whose jaw was metaphorically hanging, was quick to close it. "Okay, I don't mind high class, but this is kinda overkill."

Izzy inquired, "How'd they manage to renovate this entire room so quickly?"

"A little trick they call 'data manipulation'." Riza replied, with a smile. "They were going to show you. The wonderful thing about data, is that you can make something out of almost nothing. They decided that this building should be a place for humans to meet up, an 'embassy' of sorts for your world. All three of them mentioned to me that they're rather wealthy, so that explains the high class."

"That sounds pretty awesome!" Christa smiled, looking around in wonder.

"Prodigious!" Izzy muttered in amazement. "All things considered, that should logically be possible to do in the Digital World, but they never built upon such a concept in the fiction."

"Five bucks says they were using Google Sketchup." Jase remarked.

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Heath looked at Jase for a moment, and then crossed his arms. "You guys are such nerds, you know that?"

Vix looked at Riza, asking, "So, what's the full building gonna include when it's done?"

Riza replied, "Some of it will look like this. Others, not so much. The largest room in the building is reserved for a battle arena, for friendly matches and training, of course. There'll be an administration block, accommodations, a coding laboratory, and some rooms allocated for card games and other forms of recreation."

Jase asked, "A coding laboratory?"

"James insisted on it," Riza replied. "After figuring out that the Digital World's data could be manipulated, he requested a laboratory of sorts for 'coding experiments' to discover new ways to manipulate data in the Digital World, as well as researching pre-existing data such as Effect Cards, and so on."

Tai nudged Keith with his elbow. "Look at this. Only a few days, and you've already managed to get an embassy in the works! Already well on the way to humans and Digimon living side-by-side in harmony. I have to hand it to you guys, you're doing good."

Keith laughed bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. This 'taking compliments from one of the stars of the anime' thing was something he really had to get used to.

"Alright, that's about done," Riza announced, herding everyone outside, "There's another important destination we have to go to."

As the bus got moving, Riza sighed, rubbing her temples as she sat at the front of the bus, next to Furey. "These kids are a handful. I'd never thought I'd be providing a tour to a group of young humans..."

Furey looked at her, concerned. "Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Ah, don't worry about me," Riza smiled at her subordinate. "I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been a lot of fun so far, either."

The last stop was at the Primary Village. Keith figured they would come here for obvious reasons. The crowd was surprised and awed by what they saw around them, the ones who knew a thing or two about Digimon knew why they were here, and they were even more excited for that reason. When Liz introduced herself and lead everyone to the centre of the village, he wasn't expecting to see such a large cluster of eggs. "That's... A lot of eggs."

Liz nodded. "These are for all these tamers, culu! But that's not all, culu!"

She pointed towards another cluster of eggs a few metres away, just four of them, but each of them had a note attached. Gerado asked, "Who are those for?"

"Why don't we find out?" Izzy walked over to the eggs, reading one of the notes. His eyes widened. "Um... Taichi-san, this egg is yours."

"Seriously?" Tai ran over, and checked the note himself. Indeed, this egg was meant for him. All four eggs were meant for one of the Japanese tamers, and when it was all sorted out, Tai, Izzy, Sora and Kari were each holding an egg. Liz explained, "These eggs appeared at the same time, with their notes already attached. It's like someone wanted you to have them, culu!"

"Knowing our luck, it's either the DigiGnomes or Yggdrasil." Rina speculated.

Kari smiled, rubbing her egg. "I can't wait to see what's inside!" She immediately got her answer in the form of a YukimiBotamon popping out of the egg, which prompted a squeal and a hug. "Oh my God, I'm gonna get a Gatomon!"

Tai blinked, rubbing his egg, not expecting to be so lucky. He was wrong. What popped out of his egg was a Botamon. "W-Whoa! I might be getting Agumon?"

"I think we all might be getting the same partners our anime counterparts got!" Izzy said, showing the Pabumon that appeared out of his egg. Sora's egg had contained a Puwamon, which she hugged.

Rafaela blinked, vocally outputting everyone's thoughts on the matter. "Now that's freaky. And pretty cool."

To the Digimon fans in the crowd, this was an understatement. Before they got too rowdy with excitement, Liz took action. "Now it's time for everyone else to get an egg, culu! Single file, please!"

Tai watched the rest of the crowd gather up in a single file to collect their eggs, before looking at the original eight tamers, holding Botamon in his arms. "Man, it's been a long day... And it's been amazing! Guys, I have an idea for what we're gonna do tomorrow. Our treat. Get up early tomorrow, and... Ah, where should we meet?" He looked at Izzy.

"One of the Gate Terminals would be a good place. Probably the southern shore terminal." Izzy replied.

Hikari raised an eyebrow, as did Sora, before Tai whispered something in their ears. Then their eyes practically lit up. Geoffrey was now even more confused than he was previously, like the other tamers. "Uh... What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

Tai grinned. "It's a secret. Trust me, you're gonna love it."

The day ended with everyone heading home to the real world after some fun in the Primary Village. At the Forest Terminal, Keith and Tai shook hands, the former trying a bit too hard to express how happy he was to have met the latter through his grin. "It's been an honour to meet you, Tai-senpai."

"Likewise. You know, I have a feeling that me and my friends aren't gonna be the real heroes this time." Tai laughed.

The Japanese tamers went back home through the gate, leaving only the original eight to talk about what had happened, and speculate on what was going to happen tomorrow...

"I apologize. I have never met these two individuals, nor do I know of this 'lord' that you speak of."

Kazikli smirked, resting his elbows on the wooden table in front of him, his fingers interlocked, as he stared back at the robotic Digimon on the other side of the table. There was only one light source in this old prison interrogation room, and the table, chairs, and the security cameras in the corners were the only other inanimate things in the room that wasn't concrete.

Issac was quickly losing his patience.

In his investigation, the android had thought about questioning the same Devimon that attacked Keith on his first day in the Digital World, suspecting that he knew something about this 'lord' and his subordinates who have been harassing the human tamers in the last three days. While Kazikli seemed completely cooperative, and very polite, the results of the questioning could be summed up by the obvious fact that the Devimon didn't seem to know anything.

However, Issac knew his type. And he knew his type were A-class liars.

Problem is, he had no way to actually tell that he was lying, and any attempt to force him to tell the truth would be pointless. This questioning was going absolutely nowhere. He rose from his chair, nodding. "I suppose I don't need to ask any more questions. Thank you for your time, Kazikli."

"It's no problem. I am sorry for being unable to assist in your investigation." Kazikli nodded back, as he rose to his feet, extending his arm to shake the Digipol agent's hand. Issac reluctantly shook his hand, though he knew what a Devimon was capable of, nobody would be stupid enough to try something funny in this room, lest they suffer the wrath of the guards right outside. No tricks this time, it seemed. Issac left the room, as the guards outside came in to secure the prisoner...

Well, that was a complete waste of time.

To Be continued

Heath looked at Jase for a moment, and then crossed his arms. "You guys are such nerds, you know that?"


End file.
